Tales of Darkness
by Diluculo
Summary: Set 2 years after TotA, with full and end games spoilers. Rated T for blood, alcohol, and occasional mild language. When Luke hears Asch's voice again and tries to kill the new Fon Master, it's up to Jade to find out why. Could Asch be behind it?...
1. The new Fon Master

Luke was _bored._

Even more so than usual.

He should have been grateful to have returned from Eldrant alive, but that did not prevent his boredom. That was two years ago.

But now he saw the truth. Now he knew how Asch had lived, knew what he'd felt for seven long years in Daath, while a replica enjoyed the comforts of _his_ wealth and family. Even though Luke knew it wasn't his fault, he wished that he could apologize to Asch now more than ever.

But Asch is dead. His mind was gone, but Luke could see his memories.

But no one else knew. He'd kept it a secret from everyone else so they would not pity Asch more than they did. Asch did not like to be pitied. If only he'd--

"Master Luke?" A maid's voice interrupted his thoughts from beyond the door to his small bedroom.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Commandant Grants has arrived to visit you," The maid answered.

Though Luke knew it wasn't who he was thinking of, he still flinched at the name. That title would always make him think of the man he once idolized and respected. The man who then betrayed him by forcing Luke to destroy an entire city.

"Okay, thanks," Luke dismissed the maid and headed to the drawing room of his vast manor. The Commandant had been busy ever since her return from Eldrant; she either needed him for something or had urgent news. There was no way she had time for a visit born of a desire to see him, was there? She may have wanted to see him, but there was no time.

Luke stumbled away from his bed. He had been lying there for several hours, so his legs were stiff. Staggering to the door, he sighed, knowing this was his first time through it in several days. Ever since his return from Eldrant, Luke had fallen into a deep state of depression, for a reason known only to himself. The past weeks, days, and months had been the same for two years, and yet Luke felt not a hint of the loneliness or pain that infected his mind for those seven years... the first seven years of his life. That made nine out of ten years he'd never left his home, but now, it was different. Now, he was not being forced into isolation.

He desired it.

Luke reached the drawing room and he was greeted by a very excited Mieu, whom had insisted on staying with Luke at the manor despite having been invited to rejoin his cheagle tribe.

"Master! Master! Tear came to visit!" Mieu squeaked as he bounded out of Tear's arms to tackle his owner.

However, Luke ignored Mieu and approached Tear instead. The only one other than his parents or the maids that brought him his meals had seen for two years.

"How have you been?" He asked nervously.

"I've been doing fine, though I'm still running all over the place thanks to my promotion," She smiled sheepishly. "I... had to accept the promotion... it's the least I can do for him..."

"Yeah," Luke trailed off, vaguely recalling when his father told him of Tear's position as Commandant. "But anyway, did you come here for something? It's not often you have spare time for just a normal visit." Luke knew better than to try his luck for a normal conversation, at least not until they had a better opportunity to talk. He sensed the White Knights' stares at his unusual presence, and he felt uncomfortable speaking to Tear with half a dozen soldiers staring them down.

"Well, I received a letter from Guy requesting that I bring you and Natalia to Grand Chokmah to look at another fon machine he's made to replace the Planet Storm. Since I was in Belkend at the time and had the Albiore, I just came to pick you up on the way." Tear was never one to mince words.

"Oh, well, okay. Then let's head to the castle to pick up Natalia."

* * *

"You've just missed her," King Ingobert shook his head when asked about Natalia. "She's headed to Daath to speak to the Fon Master."

"Oh yeah, they assigned a new Fon Master. I guess Anise got her way, huh?" Luke chuckled.

"No, it's not Anise," The king replied. "Natalia mentioned her name was Cantabile. I heard that she only recently became a God-General, but Grand Maestro Tritheim and Teodoro must have had good reason to promote her to Fon Master so soon."

"I guess then we'll get to meet her in Daath, then," Luke pointed out the obvious, as usual. It's not that he didn't know and needed to confirm it, but if he didn't say something stupid every now and then, someone might suspect something...

"Well, then, if you'll excuse us, Your Majesty, we'll be heading out now," Tear said, disregarding Luke's comment even though she already knew the Fon Master.

"I'll see you when you return with my daughter and Luke, then. Have a safe trip."

* * *

As they left the castle, Luke and Tear were surprised to see a blue body hurl itself against their legs.

"You're not leaving me behind, Master!" Mieu commanded.

"Of course not, Mieu," Tear blushed. "It's always good to have you around."

* * *

The trip to Daath was long. Even more so than usual.

And Luke was bored.

Why? Why was he still here? Lorelei had reconstructed his body in the Planet Storm and returned him to Tataroo Valley.

That was two years ago.

But it wasn't his body. It was Asch's.

Had anyone noticed? He hoped not, but he didn't know why. He just had to hide it for some reason. They would find out sooner or later, somehow. It was hard enough understanding Asch, but still pretending that he was Luke and only Luke. It wouldn't be long before their separate memories blurred, Luke slipped, and everyone found out. Tear was good at finding things out--

"Luke! Wake up!"

Luke wasn't asleep, he was just too deep in thought to notice they'd arrived at Daath. He hadn't noticed Tear calling for him to hurry up earlier, and now he'd pay.

"Stop your daydreaming and hurry up!"

"Ah, sorry, Tear. I'm coming, I'm coming!" Luke stumbled from his seat near the cockpit of the Albiore and out the side hatch, groaning inwardly as he noted that Noelle had stopped at Daath Bay rather than going just a bit closer to the city and saving them a lot of walking.

The port was not a large town, and there were few ships docking, but those that were towered over the small bars and pubs that lined the docks. Tear stepped up their pace, slightly peeved at how oblivious Luke could be and the extra delay of traveling to Daath, coupled with the amount of walking they still had to do just to get into the city thanks to where Noelle chose to park the aircraft.

They passed through the port town quickly after paying the docking fee and headed for the path the lead to Fourth Monument Hill. The monsters they encountered only made the path seem longer, though Luke and Tear alone felt more than enough of a match for anything that barred their way.

Luke slowed to a placid stroll when they left the town. He wanted to enjoy the feeling of being outside for a while. Tear eventually followed suit, realizing there was no real hurry, and walked beside him.

"So what have you been doing these past two years. I was hoping to run into you_ some_where, but you haven't been around."

"I've kind of... been home most of the time." Luke stretched the truth a little.

"Oh? Enjoying the life of a noble to its fullest?"

"What's _that _supposed to mean?!"

"Don't worry about it, Luke," Tear smiled at him. "I've missed you, you know."

"You could've come to visit me."

"Well, I was busy most of the time, and I tried a few times to come, but the guards stopped me saying that you were not feeling well and they wouldn't allow me to enter no matter what I told them."

"..."

"But now that I have an excuse, they let me in without any trouble."

"So have you heard from any of the others?"

"We've all been running around recently, but Guy seemed happy and very much at home in Grand Chokmah. Jade has been helping him with the fon machine under orders from Peony, as he hasn't been needed as a soldier recently. Anise has been bugging Grand Maestro Tritheim about becoming the Fon Master, but he won't even listen to her, she says. He allowed Cantabile to be the Fon Master instead."

"That's odd." Luke gazed off, deep in thought.

"Luke, watch out!" Tear called as a pack of wolves with crimson fur pounced at them from behind. Luke swung around and drew his sword in one smooth motion and defended Tear long enough for her to cast Holy Lance. The monsters backed off, growling in agony, but soon resumed their attack. Luke saw another form out of the corner of his eye when he turned to strike another beast that was heading for Tear.

"Tear! Behind you!" But his plea was too late, she was deep into Judgment, and he would not reach her in time. There was only one thing he could do, but it would give him away. Tear would keep it secret, wouldn't she? She'd done it before...

Luke had never tried out his newfound knowledge in practice yet, but he was confident he could pull it off. Two years ago, this never would've happened. He had to do it, if at least just this one time...

"_O frigid blades pour forth! Icicle Rain!_"

The beast approaching Tear from behind was skewered by deadly sharp needles made of the Fourth Fonon itself. It lay twitching on the ground, pinned in several places by the ice. Tear finished off her spell and obliterated the rest of the monsters easily.

But she'd seen what Luke had done.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked her.

"Yeah, but... Did you just...? Since when do you...?"

"Please, Tear, I had to. Don't tell anyone."

"Why? I think it's great that you've learned to do something other than hack away with your sword."

"It's a long story," Luke sighed, uninsulted. "If I tell you, not a word to anyone else."

"Um...okay..." Tear was a bit hesitant, as she knew Luke was going to tell her something very worrisome...

* * *

Luke and Tear walked into Daath in silence, the gravity of Luke's confession weighing on both.

"What's up with you two you? You look like you're about to cry!" A familiar voice hailed them from the cathedral.

Tear was the first to recover and returned the greeting.

"Oh, hi, Anise."

Luke snapped to his senses at Tear's voice, remembering what happened on the Albiore. For now, she seemed to have forgiven him. That, or she was just putting on a good face for Anise's sake.

"Hey, Anise, how's it going?" Luke's timely delayed reaction time was perfect; it was something Luke would do, wasn't it? He _was_ a little slow...

"So, what's up? Does Luke miss his mommy or something?" Anise joked.

"I-I do _not!_" Luke fumed.

"A-anyway, Anise, have you seen Natalia anywhere?" Tear defended Luke by attempting to change the subject.

"I know you're just trying to save Luke, but I'll tell you anyway. She's still seeing Fon Master Cantabile, but they should be finished soon." Anise replied slyly. "That stupid purple-haired, one-eyed, prissy chick took my position as Fon Master!" she whined.

"Anise, don't say such things about the Fon Master!"

"Why did Tritheim promote her instead of you?" Luke wondered.

"He told me they needed someone a little more _responsible _to be the Fon Master." Anise glanced around and then whispered to Luke and Tear. "I think she's creepy."

"Anise! Stop saying things like that!" Tear reprimanded her.

"Guess what." Anise cut her off.

"Um, what is it, Anise?" Luke asked rather foolishly.

"I'm a God-General now," she boasted.

"Oh, Anise, that's great!" Tear praised her, forgetting Anise's earlier insults to the Fon Master. "You're the first to be reassigned, right? They won't let Dist back and the rest of the positions are still empty."

"Well, um, actually..." Anise looked down and scuffed her foot on the polished stone of the cathedral steps.

"So, what, now you get a cool name and a division of soldiers to order around?" Luke said in an effort to be funny.

"Yeah, but they call me..."

"Oh, my, I didn't expect you three to be here," Natalia exited the cathedral and joind the three friends, wasting no time to fuss at Luke."Well, Luke, long time no see. What's gotten into you, holing up your room for days on end! I can't believe you even came out to see Tear!"

Tear glanced uneasily at him. She hadn't known of Luke's strange behavior, how could she, now that she could rarely visit him herself. It had to be...

"I... um..." Luke mumbled.

"Natalia, leave Luke alone," Tear interjected sharply. "We came here to transport you to Grand Chokmah by Guy's request."

"Oh? What for?"

"It seems he's found another solution regarding the Planet Storm's weakening effect."

"Ah, yes, that's what I was just telling the Fon Master," Natalia explained. "It seems she received a letter and an invitation as well."

"So does that mean we have to take her there in the Albiore?" Luke interrupted.

"Well, yes, that is the general idea." Natalia replied, just the slightest bit annoyed.

Was it just him, or did everyone seem to get angry at him more often? Maybe he was trying _too_ hard to act like himself...

Tear knew. She found out already. How long could he keep it from the others? If he met up with Jade, even for the smallest amount of time, it was all over. Jade would see straight through his false front. How he'd managed to avoid them for this long--

"Luke! Are you listening?!" Natalia was even angrier than before, and much more violent when she got to this point.

"Yeah, I'm listening," he lied.

"He sure is the bright one,"

All four turned to see a dark-haired woman standing just behind them. She boldly confronted their group.

"Fon Master, _please_," Natalia reprimanded her. "At least introduce yourself!"

"I beg your forgiveness," she gave Luke a menacing grin that was almost as terrifying as Jade's; not that she seemed like she was plotting something, just that you couldn't tell whether she was sincere or sarcastic. "I am Fon Master Cantabile. It is an _honor_ to meet you."

"N-nice to meet you, too..." Luke stammered nervously.

"Well, shall we be heading off? I've finished my preparations," Cantabile swept past Luke and strolled down the stairs and off to the marketplace.

Mieu poked his head out of the item bag Luke always carried.

"Was that the new Fon Master?" he asked.

"Yes, Mieu, and I don't think introducing her to you will make her think any higher of me, so stay hidden." Luke muttered impatiently.

"Mieuuuuuuuuu" he complained before withdrawing once more.

"Luke, you need to snap out of this weird mood you've been in lately. You get angry at the smallest things." Natalia was quick to jump on any little thing Luke did that displeased her.

"Here, I'll hold you, Mieu." Tear offered as she snatched the item bag from Luke.

"Then he's your pet until we get back to Baticul."

"Come on, let's catch up to Cantabile! She's gone ahead!" Anise decided she'd had enough of their arguing and finally voiced her thoughts.

"Wait, since when did you decide to come?"

"Luke?..." Tear whispered. "You agreed to let her come."

He could not recall anything...

"What? Changed your mind? You want me to suffer in the company of all these boring old men, don't you?!"

"No, Anise! I have no problem with you coming!"

"Hehehe Good!" Anise latched her arms around Luke's chest for a second, then ran down the stairs.

"Come on! Let's get going!"

Tear and Luke followed the young God-General and Natalia back to the port.

* * *

"This is it?" Cantabile glanced around the Albiore expectantly.

"Hello," Noelle turned around in her seat at the head of the cockpit. "You're the Fon Master, correct?"

Cantabile ignored her greeting and instead examined the cockpit from top to bottom, missing not a single detail.

"Is there something wrong?"

Cantabile turned to Noelle and stared with her eerie golden eye.

"No."

Anise barged up the stairs that led to the cockpit.

"Hi Noelle! It's been forever!" Promptly taking her usual seat, she called back to the staircase. "Hurry up, you three! Noelle's ready to leave!"

Luke, Tear, and Natalia ascended the stairs and took their seats as well. Cantabile inched over to the window; this was her first time flying and she was curious, although she didn't let it show.

Noelle was about to warn Cantabile to sit when the Albiore took off, but she thought better of it.

"So, we're off to Grand Chokmah, then?" Noelle confirmed.

"Yes," Tear said absently. She had been worried about Luke since their trip to Daath, but Natalia's statements only made her worry more. She glanced up at Luke, who was staring off into space as he'd done several times since their departure from Baticul, and it was an unusual trait she'd never known him to have. Well, he'd done it once before, right after the incident at Akzeriuth, but never so solemnly. Before it had been an angry gaze of denial, but now it seemed more like... depression, almost.

Luke was bored.

No he wasn't.

He was troubled.

More so than usual.

He'd just realized something he should have long ago. He felt like a failure before because of his birth, but now...

He was no longer a replica.

Was that good or bad? How could it not be good? Replicas had no advantage over their originals, right?

_Dreck._

...Huh? That wasn't his thought. Could it be--

"Asch?" Only when he noticed the silence of everyone's stares did he realize he was the one who'd said it.

"Asch? What about Asch?" Natalia asked sourly, her interest piqued.

"Luke...are you okay?... What are you talking about?..." Tear played dumb for the moment. She knew very well what he could be talking about...

"Aaahm..." Luke scrambled frantically to find an excuse, _any_ excuse, just don't ask any more, Natalia, _please_...

"Luke? Tell me why you said 'Asch'," Natalia was growing impatient, not just any answer would satisfy her.

At a loss for words, Luke blurted the first lame explanation that came to mind.

"Um... My hair grew out... and now it's long... like... Asch's hair..." Luke ran his hand through his blood-red hair, though it was not his, and flung it to the side to back up his statement.

Natalia just gave him a curious look and agreed meekly.

"Yeah...I guess so..."

She was not satisfied, she was _far_ from satisfied, only that much more frustrated with Luke.

Tear came to the rescue again by changing the subject.

"S-so, Fon Master, may we inquire as to how you fight?"

"What?" Natalia was very confused, but Luke caught on.

"Um, yeah, I'd love to know."

"Of course, I'll show you," Cantabile smirked.

She drew her sword from its sheath. It was a long blade, its makeup like that of a katana, but much wider and heavier, meant to be wielded with two hands instead of one. She handed it to Luke, who further noted that Cantabile happened to be a lefty, like he once was, but now he was ambidextrous, as Asch was right-handed. He noticed some writing etched down the blade. He slowly sounded out the words to himself that looked so similar to the normal ones he was used to, but why was it so hard to read?

"'The voice of the gods?'" He asked.

"That_ is _my name," Cantabile responded.

Tear frowned. She had also been examining the blade. "Luke... you know Ancient Ispanian?"

"What?" Luke returned her glance. Of course Asch knew Ancient Ispanian.

"Of course, the sword is not my only practice, I can cast my fair share of fonic artes, too." Cantabile continued.

"That's a nice weapon," he remarked. "though it's odd that a sword as heavy as this one has only one blade." Luke extended the beautiful weapon hilt first to back to its owner, who gracefully slipped it into its sheath.

"The heavier the dull edge of the blade, the better it is for cleaving," Cantabile explained, then added with a grin, "Now let's see yours."

Luke would rather not have shown the Fon Master his own blade; she did not seem completely trustworthy, but he could not refuse her. Reluctantly, Luke unsheathed the Key of Lorelei he had been using since it was returned to him at Eldrant.

Cantabile made no dramatic suggestion that she might be interested, but Luke saw something glint in her eye, like she had finally found something she was looking for.

"So this is the Key of Lorelei," Cantabile accepted the blade from Luke's outstretched hand and ran her finger along the length of the weapon.

"Yes, but it will no longer function as the Key without the Grand Fonic Hymn."

"I see..." Cantabile was extremely fascinated with this news. "The Grand Fonic Hymn—the one that only Yulia and her descendants are said to have known."

"That is correct," Tear was growing suspicious as well.

"They why would one who cannot utilize the Key's full power still wield it?" Cantabile pressed. "How about a trade... My fine sword for your useless one?"

"Never," Luke said, snatching back his weapon defensively.

"Calm down, Luke," Tear warned him.

Luke met Cantabile's eye for a split second and had to force his gaze elsewhere. Its color, the color was so familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Where had he seen that before?... Two years ago?... No, it couldn't be_ that_, he'd never seen that anywhere else before, why should it show up now, it was a mere coincidence. _It had to be._

* * *


	2. What's wrong with Luke?

"Well, that's quite the contraption, Guy."

Luke circled the machine, examining each component thoroughly. It seemed to be a generator of some kind, that, according to Guy, was able to convert the thinning Planet Storm's power into a steady stream of usable fuel.

"Luke, stop acting like you know what you're looking at. You have no clue what anything on it does," Guy smiled.

Luke was not hurt by that comment; Guy didn't mean to offend him, but _Asch_ knew what it did. Well, he didn't understand it as fully as Guy, but he knew more than Luke.

"With any luck, we should be able to run a small fonstone flashlight with that thing," Jade approached Guy and Luke, grinning as usual.

"Jade, do you _have_ to say things like that?" Guy sighed.

Luke rapped his knuckle against a small box near the top of the fon machine.

"Hey, Luke, don't break it! That converter isn't exactly cheap!" Guy protested.

"Hmm... I think you'll need a different voltage divider. This thing'll burn up as soon as you turn it on," Luke turned from the fon machine to Guy. "Have you tried it out yet?"

"Luke... how do you know that? Last I checked you had trouble with a screwdriver,"

"My, my, the young master seems to have done his homework in his absence," Jade aimed his sarcasm at Luke, though he, too, was shocked at Luke's knowledge. "Maybe it isn't such a bad thing you hardly left your manor for these past two years."

"Wait, how do _you _know that?"

"Luke," warned Guy, "_never_ question how Jade gets his information." Guy set to work detaching the bad converter. "And since when did you know about fon machines, Luke? You figured out the main problem I was trying to solve without even a hint. What gives?"

Damn it. _Damn it all._

Had he just kept his big, stupid mouth _shut_, he wouldn't be in this position. Now he would be forced to lie... _in front of Jade_. Which was pretty much like not lying in the first place. Jade would find out in a second (if he didn't already know) about Luke. Well, it was worth a shot. Best case, he could fool Guy. Worst case, Jade answered Guy's question_ truthfully_ before Luke had a chance to think of a good excuse.

Luke couldn't figure out if it was a stroke of genius or one of luck when the idea hit him.

He groaned and fell to his knees.

"Luke? What's wrong? Another headache?" Guy pulled off his oil-stained mechanics' gloves and turned to Luke.

"Now, do think too hard, Luke, you'll hurt yourself," Jade added dryly.

Luke made a good show of growling in pain, clutching his forehead, and panting heavily.

"Jade, call for help, this doesn't look like his usual headaches!"

Jade nodded and left to find the nearest soldiers he could to assist.

"Luke! Can you hear me?" Guy said slowly.

Luke only grunted in response. Because Guy was right.

This _wasn't_ a usual headache, nor was it a false one to hide the truth from Jade.

Luke found his head was actually throbbing, worse than he'd ever felt before, and—was it his imagination?--a voice calling his name.

And it wasn't Lorelei.

Luke managed to choke out a strained whisper.

"Asch."

"Luke? Luke!?" he heard Guy call a final time before blacking out completely.

* * *

Luke awoke in a dark room.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts. The room had two windows, both of which had curtains that let in a small amount of light. Okay, it was night. Did that mean he'd been out cold since late noon?

Late noon. Ah. That's what happened. Guy asked him why he was suddenly so good with fon machines, and he'd faked a headache to avoid the question. But then he did have a headache. And then--

"Asch," he spoke aloud and sat up in the bed in which he had been placed. "Asch?"

He fumbled around near what looked like it could be a lamp until he pressed the switch. The light blinded him immediately, so he closed his eyes and looked away. Gradually he got used to the light and he took stock of his surroundings. It was an unfamiliar room, definitely not one of the inn's. It was lavishly decorated and quite spacious, but it had only one bed. So it wasn't a guest bedroom. That had to mean it was Guy's room, in the new mansion he had built with the money put aside for the House of Gardios.

Luke massaged his temple for a while trying to figure out what happened. That was the second time he'd heard Asch's voice in the last few days. But why? Asch was dead, right?

_...Right?_

It had to be his imagination. But Lorelei's voice had been his 'imagination' years ago, before he understood _that. _

The door creaked open to Luke's left.

"You awake yet?" Tear called into the room.

"Yeah..."

"I saw the light, so I figured you'd woken up," Tear stepped closer and sat on the end of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"It still hurts, but it's not nearly as bad as it was earlier," Luke told the her.

"It's a good thing the Colonel had troops nearby so we could get you here as fast as we could."

Luke sighed and leaned forward, head in his hands.

"Tear... what's happening to me?"

"I don't know, but..."

"He knows!"

"Who?"

Luke tried to pull himself out of the bed, but Tear pushed him back down.

"Damn that Jade! He found out! It's bad enough you know!" Luke snarled, not necessarily at Tear, but at the realization that Jade had found him out despite his desperate attempt to hide it. He pounded the sheets in front of him with both fists clenched tight before folding his arms defiantly.

"Luke, I never said Jade knew anything," Tear reasoned with him.

"But... you told him... you had to..." Luke shuddered, on the verge of tears. "He has that damn little way of getting anyone to tell him anything!"

"Luke, calm down!" Tear snapped, grabbing his arm. "I never told the Colonel anything."

"So what's wrong with me? Are my fonons separating or is it something else that's gonna kill me?!"

"Luke!" Tear leaned close enough to Luke to slap him soundly.

"Thanks," Luke muttered, rubbing his flushed cheek. "I'm calm now."

"The Colonel said he wasn't sure what could be happening."

"Well, _that's_ nice to know," Luke mumbled darkly.

"...But he left about an hour ago saying he was heading off to the Headquarters to speak to Dist," Tear finished.

"That's right... Dist may know more about perfect isofons. Though, I guess I'm technically only an isofon for Lorelei now," Luke observed.

"Yes, but _must_ you say it like that?"

Both turned at the sound of the door opening. Guy poked his head in.

"How's the little fontech scholar doing, Tear?"

Mieu ran in through the crack in the door and hopped up on the bed.

"Master, are you sick? What happened? Everyone's really worried, but Tear and Jade won't tell Guy or Anise or Natalia about it!"

It was then that Luke remembered Mieu's uncanny ability to find out things he shouldn't.

And his presence on the way to Daath.

"You little--!" Luke made a grab at Mieu in an attempt to relieve him of the Sorcerer's Ring, but the nimble cheagle skipped backwards into Tear's arms.

"Luke! Leave Mieu alone!"

"What's all this about?" Guy asked casually, approaching the bed.

"I'd like to know, too"

"Don't leave me out, either!"

Luke cursed under his breath at the sight of Anise and Natalia in the doorway, and instinctively began to search for a way out of yet another nerve-wracking situation. The headache plan was a good one, and furthermore, he could use it again because it turned out to be real the first time. It was nice to have a backup plan, but it wouldn't work here. Just as he was about to resort to his most feeble and immature response--

"Everyone shut up! Just leave me alone!"

His companions just stood there staring at him, which was the last thing he wanted.

"What? Leave me alone so I can have some time for myself! Or is it that too hard for you to understand?!"

Five sets of eyes reflected total shock, but they turned for the door nonetheless, each muttering to themselves.

"What has gotten into him?..."

"Maybe the long hair just makes him cranky,"

"Shh! Anise, watch what you say, young lady!"

"Master..."

Tear was the last one to leave; she paused at the threshold to tell Luke one last thing:

"I'm sorry,"

She slammed the door behind her.

Luke didn't know at what he was most appalled... or _afraid_

Luke was afraid.

More so than he'd ever been. _Ever._

More afraid than he was at the Tower of Rem.

More afraid than when he learned he was going to die a slow death.

More afraid than after Akzeriuth.

Luke thrust his head into his hands fiercely and sobbed openly.

It was him. It had to be. This must be revenge for a crime he didn't commit. It's not like he _chose_ to be born a replica, to replace him!

Asch had come back to haunt him, ever tormenting Luke past his time. He was sure of it. Asch had come back, but now Luke was terrified of him because now Asch was awakening inside him.

Luke's mind wandered to hell and back.

Could Asch regain enough power to control him completely, to reclaim his body and life?

How was he still there in the first place?

And if he did know how Asch did it and how he could stop him, would he be able to do it?

Would he kill himself in the process?

Asch was beginning to contact Luke. He'd done it a few times already and had just now controlled his speech as well. He could contact the others, too, through Luke.

Luke shook uncontrollably. Why was this happening? He was so elated to have still been alive, even if he missed Asch. He wasn't sure if he'd feel the same if they met now. Not after what he had done. Now his friends had left him, now, of all times, when he needed their support the most.

Tear.

She said "I'm sorry".

Luke's eyes widened as he realized what she meant.

He shoved the sheets back roughly and flew out the door and down the first hall he saw. He was unfamiliar with Guy's manor, having been here only once before, earlier that day, even. He paused at a lengthy stairwell that, if he remembered correctly, would lead to the lounge. They would be there. He crept down the steps carefully and, when he considered himself to be in a good position, focused on their conversation.

"...should be coming back anytime now," He heard Jade say.

"But why? Didn't he already--"

"Anise! You'll wake Natalia! We don't need her hearing us now!" Tear cut in.

"Why does he want to come back? Is he still not satisfied with all he's done to us? Luke is in no condition to fight him if he needs to, and he's the one he's after!"

"Luke does not need to fight." The Colonel interrupted, much more solemn than he usually was.

"But Colonel! How could he not?! Surely you realize who we're talking about?!"

"Anise! At that rate you'll wake both Natalia _and _Luke!"

"Maybe it's better if they know!"

Luke heard rapid footsteps leaving the room and a door slam down the hall.

He sighed and trudged back up the stairs to his room. He'd heard enough! Jade, that bastard, he'd told everyone! Why can't they just leave him the hell alone?! Asch was coming back, somehow, some way, he would come back seeking revenge on Luke. Asch would hunt him down and make sure he died an agonizingly slow death. Much slower than fonon separation.

* * *

The next day, Tear brought Luke breakfast. Luke only scowled at the heaps of food on the platter Tear set down on the nightstand. It was enough for two.

"Luke..." she started. "I came to talk to you."

Luke remained silent.

"You promised you weren't going to pout like that anymore."

Luke sighed and accepted the food. "Fine, I'll hear you out."

"What happened last night?"

Luke was hesitant to explain, but he managed to say, "That wasn't me".

"I know," Tear said patiently. To get as much information as she could, she would have to remain calm. Jade was awaiting a report; he'd chosen her because Luke trusted her more than anyone. Plus Tear had an amazing amount of mental stamina.

"You do? You're not mad at me?"

"It sounded more like something Asch would say," Bait him out, just like Jade said...

"..."

"Luke..."

"It was him."

"How do you know?"

"I _know_ it's him."

Luke busied himself with a mouthful of egg to avoid any questions for a minute. Tear waited until Luke had swallowed before pressing him for more answers.

"Did he say anything?"

"He called my name."

"When was that? Last night?"

"No."

Was he going out of his way to be difficult? Or was what Jade said happening?...

"When did he call your name?"

"Right before I blacked out yesterday."

That makes sense. She remembered Guy telling her that Luke mumbled 'Asch' right before he passed out.

"Anything else?"

"Before, on the Albiore, I thought I heard him call me 'dreck' like he always does."

"And you're sure you heard nothing else?"

"No."

Tear was quickly losing her cool. Why can't he just tell her?! She took a deep breath.

"Has anything else odd happened?"

Luke thought about it for a minute. She seemed to be trying to get something important out of him. Was this all a scheme to get him to confess and have a bunch of doctors and psychiatrists analyze it? He wanted to trust Tear blindly. But he knew what came of blind trust. Asch wouldn't let him, anyway. But maybe that was for the better; tell someone and have them help solve it. _That's what she wants me to think! She wants to catch me off guard!_

Maybe he could just keep trying Tear's patience and see where that got him. Maybe he could turn the tables and get her to tell him something useful... It was obvious Jade has his suspicions as to what may be happening, but Jade's smile was an impregnable fortress of steel when it came down to it. If he'd taken the time to explain to Tear (which he may or may not have done), it would certainly be to his advantage to find out. Luke sighed heavily, seeing that now he thought like Asch. Hell, admitting to that proved his point in itself.

Tear, however, misinterpreted the sigh as his reluctance to talk finally giving way.

"No."

That had to be enough for now.

"Well, then, I'll leave you alone for now."

"Okay. I want to go take a walk around the city for now." He moved to leave the bed, but Tear pushed him back.

"The Colonel said you weren't to leave the manor until you have fully recovered."

Heh. Stuck in a manor.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, Anise is here to entertain you." Tear gathered up the trays of food, which had hardly been touched, and carried them out the room.

Tear went into the kitchen with the dishes. She set them down on the counter for now; she'd wash them later. She had other things to do that were more important than housework.

She slipped out the front door and strolled to Jade's manor, which was not far away. She had never been to Jade's house before. It was certainly smaller than Guy's, but it was large enough to house a single male soldier with ease. Jade met her in the living room and led her to his study. Jade's house was very neat and practical; no frilly unneeded decorations were to be found.

"How did it go?" Jade wasted no time questioning Tear, as he was just as concerned for Luke as she was.

"It's not as bad as you thought it was," Tear began.

"Of course, I was only telling you the worst-case scenario last night so you would be relieved when you found out it wasn't that bad."

"He claimed to have heard Asch only twice, but he was being very tight-lipped, so I can't be sure if he gave me the whole story."

"Strike one," Jade muttered.

"What's that?"

"Asch has begun to influence his thought patterns. Though that may have happened soon after the Big Bang effect occurred, he is being severely affected now."

Tear was silent.

"As for hearing Asch, if only twice, he should be okay for a while, depending on the content of his messages,"

"Apparently he only said 'dreck' the first time, but he called Luke's name the second time, when he blacked out yesterday."

"Well, he should be okay until he starts having conversations with Asch," Jade mused thoughtfully. "Unless he goes into a coma before then."

"Jade!"

"Come now, Tear, I was only kidding."

"..."

"Though that _would _be a bad sign."

"Anyway, your idea about his outburst last night turned out to be true."

"Now that's strange..."

"W-what is it, Jade?"

"That is a very advanced symptom, if I recall correctly."

"What does that mean?"

"Either it's a fluke and won't happen again until his condition worsens, or..."

"Or...?"

"Forget it. It's impossible anyway. Don't worry yourself, Tear."

"Okay, then, Colonel, if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading back..."

"Take care, Tear," Jade said cheerfully. "Luke won't go crazy for another month or two, there's nothing to worry about."

Tear left his study and sighed heavily as she walked back to Guy's manor.

She knew if Jade even considered for a second that something bad was happening, it would most certainly happened. Because the Colonel was _never _wrong.

* * *


	3. Luke's 'episode'

Luke was impatient. He didn't want to just sit there all day, though he would have until a few days ago. He hadn't eaten the food Tear brought, so he was still hungry, which gave him good reason to seek out the kitchen. Maybe he could even flatter Anise into cooking for him.

Oh, how deceptive Asch was.

Luke got out of bed and threw the covers up to the numerous pillows halfheartedly. He slumped down the stairs and turned the corner where he'd heard everyone talking last night. He poked around and familiarized himself with the room. There were all kinds of little fon machines strewn over the coffee table—apparently Guy's latest project. They all seemed similar, though of different sizes, and Luke observed that Guy seemed to be trying to scale down another version. Luke rummaged through some papers he noticed near the end of the table and examined the sheets of figures, scribbles, drawings, and formulas. He assumed they were smaller, more portable versions of the generator, made to amplify a fonist's power, well, really, to restore it to what it once was; the Planet Storm's reduced activity affected their power as well.

Luke wondered how he'd managed to gather enough Fourth Fonons to cast Icicle Rain without any practice. But Jade said the Seventh Fonon would be the hardest to come by, didn't he? Maybe after he recovered a bit more, he'd see if hyperresonance still worked.

He turned around at the sound of Anise humming and carrying a plate of lunch. She was heading for his room.

"Hi, Anise," he called her.

"Whoa! Luke! You should warn me before you just appear out of nowhere!" She walked over to Luke and set the plate down on the table. "You want to eat in here? I made your favorite"

"Thanks, Anise,"

"I'll go get my serving, too, and we can eat in here together."

Luke "mmmmmmmmmph"ed a reply, as he was already scarfing down the delicious meal.

Anise returned shortly and started eating herself, though more daintily than Luke. Anise tried to start up a conversation.

"So, Luke, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much..."

"It seems you've been studying these past two years; first you read Ancient Ispanian, now you're an expert on fontech!"

Luke avoided the question with a long drink of water. They should know better than to interrogate him while he was eating, it only gave him another excuse to remain silent.

"What's next?" Anise asked cheerfully, "Are you going to become a fonist or something?"

Luke barely managed to stay calm. He set the empty mug back down and laughed.

"Nah, that's not really my thing. Besides, then I'd have to drag one of those things around." He nodded at the fontech devices on the other end of the coffee table.

"Whaaaaat?!" Anise whined. "Guy wouldn't tell us what those were for and he offered the first to find out 1,000 gald!"

"Well, um..." Luke stood up from his kneeling position and pushed his plate away. "You can tell him you figured it out first. You need that money more than me."

He hurried up the stairs, leaving behind a very confused Anise.

* * *

Luke leaned against the door to Guy's room.

He never imagined how hard knowing too much could be.

Luke collapsed onto the bed, wracked with guilt.

Luke was guilty.

Why? Was it because he'd lied to his friends?

But they knew now. Did it matter? Yes. It did. They should have heard it from him.

Then he heard the voice. Not Lorelei.

"Luke?" it said.

Luke rolled over and held his head in a futile attempt to ease the pain.

"Asch..." he muttered, "Leave me alone!..."

He got no reply. Luke sat up, still suffering, and looked around the room. For what, he wasn't sure, until he saw it. Luke had much difficulty forcing himself to the other end of the room. He had to get there. But why?...

Luke fell to his knees and searched through his things—the equipment he always carried with him. He found what he was looking for, and as soon as he found it, the pain vanished. Luke blinked in surprise and it took a moment before he realized the torment was over. The room was dark; the blackout curtains had been put up by Tear the night before to ensure Luke could sleep as long as he needed to. Even without the light, he knew what he was holding, but not why he had been drawn to it. Luke smiled; finding a remedy to the pain was more than he could have ever wanted. He crawled back to the bed, very much exhausted, with a deathgrip on the Key of Lorelei.

* * *

Jade was anxious.

That was not common.

He had been pacing the length of his library for the past 20 minutes, trying to figure out what was wrong with Luke. The only clues he had to go on were what Tear told him and the actions he'd seen firsthand. He wanted to speak with Luke himself, but Luke would certainly catch on.

No. Luke wouldn't. Asch would.

If it was just Luke, he would have certainly told Tear everything, but Asch is far more introverted. Asch would hide things.

But there was always the possibility Luke _did_ tell Tear everything, and that one fragment of information was vital to pinpointing precisely how much time he had to find a solution.

Dist was wrong. He _hadn't _perfected the theory of perfect isofons. It seemed there was still much about fomicry that Jade himself didn't know.

If only he could get Luke to Belkend, maybe he could have the doctors examine him. Jade was sure the analysis would provide clues. But how to get him to cooperate?...

It's a shame, really, that the trust he had for Van was gone. Van would have been a useful tool with which to manipulate Luke. Van could have Luke do anything. Van could make Luke destroy a town.

But Jade saw no point in regretting the past. What happened then had been done and could no longer be changed. With the creation of fomicry, he had indirectly caused the world disastrous problems...

But he would not waste time dwelling on the past.

Jade had many things on his mind: Luke's condition, Dist's threat, the Planet Storm, the idea that his fonic artes were so weak now that he doesn't bother to use them, his workings to raise the status of replicas, helping Guy perfect the generators, his job as a soldier, and not to mention, his own devious little experiments. He was getting too old for this.

"Hey, Jade!" a voice called from the living room.

Jade left to see who was calling him.

"You don't need to shout, Guy, it's not like you're talking to Luke."

"Oh, there you are," Guy turned to face the Colonel. "I was just coming to get you so we can see His Majesty about the generator."

"Oh, yes, that was _today_, wasn't it?" Jade asked, unconcerned. "I'm afraid I had forgotten all about it."

"Uh-huh, sure ya did." Guy sighed as they headed out to the street.

"So I take it you've completed the smaller versions as well?" Jade wondered.

"Yeah, and Anise gets the thousand gald."

"Anise? I certainly didn't expect her to win it, though I suppose she had the motivation to spend all night thinking about it."

"No," Guy sounded concerned. "Luke told her."

"Then why not take Luke along with us to see His Majesty?"

Guy paused. "Oh, hell, he knows as much as me about it. Sure."

"I can't guarantee you'll earn his consent."

"What's going on between you and Luke and Tear? You three sound like you know something."

"Why, yes, I believe we do." Jade remarked casually.

"Like what?"

"You're actually a replica..."

"_What?!_"

"It would be so ironic if that were true, wouldn't it, though?"

"Jade... _please_ don't do that to me..."

"It's your own fault you believed me. You didn't have to." They had reached the front door of Guy's house. Guy sighed and opened the door.

"You just sound so damn convincing, it scares me."

"Whoa!" Anise pushed the door open at the exact second Guy pulled it, and she fell forward onto Guy.

Guy screamed, shoved Anise onto the ground, and jumped backwards, all at the same time. Anise, however, grappled for anything to break her fall, which happened to be Jade's uniform.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" Jade said, thoroughly amused, as though nothing had happened.

"Colonel! Thank Lorelei you're here! You have to come quick!"

Jade suddenly became more serious. "What? Is it something to do with Luke?"

"Come on!" Anise grabbed his arm and dragged him up the stairs to Luke's room. "He looks seriously bad!" Guy followed them, concerned for his friend.

When they arrived in Luke's room, Jade noticed that Cantabile was there, too. She must have come to Guy's house to wait for he and Guy to bring her to the meeting with the Emperor.

"I just found him like this!" Anise cried frantically. "He won't listen to a thing I say and Tear and Natalia are gone so there's no one to heal him!"

Luke was sprawled on the floor, his back against the bed so he was in a half-sitting position. His entire body was streaked with blood, and it took Jade a moment to realize it was because Luke was clutching the blade of the Key of Lorelei with his bare hands, its razor-sharp blade easily spilling more blood whenever it came into contact with his skin. He appeared to be comatose, but he was breathing heavily, exhausted and far past the point of feeling any pain.

"Luke," Jade said firmly.

There was no response.

Jade gingerly touched Luke's right hand, trying to pry the keen blade from his grasp.

Luke's hand twitched awkwardly, freeing the other hand and sending the blade in Jade's direction. Jade backed up, out of range and tried to get another reaction.

"Luke! Listen to me!"

Luke only put his free hand up to his head.

"Jade... what do we do?!"

"Unless you are a Seventh Fonist, nothing. Leave, Guy, and Anise."

"We'll find Tear and Natalia and bring them here!" Anise called as they descended the stairs.

"What about you?" Jade addressed Cantabile, but never let his eyes stray from Luke.

"You want me to help?"

"If you can."

Cantabile sighed.

"Maybe it would be for the best if you saw his reaction."

"What do you mean--"

Cantabile cautiously approached Luke, not wanting to get too close again, but drawing in what meager amount of Seventh Fonons she could anyway.

As soon as Cantabile got within two steps of Luke, his reflexes kicked in again and he swung the sword out in defense, though much more fiercely than he had at Jade.

Jade stepped back once again and saw that Luke seemed to be in pain again, tears now much in evidence.

"How could?--"

"I don't get it either!" Cantabile shouted. "That's the second time! I try to heal him and he just tries to kill me!"

"Fon Master, just leave the room, please. I don't think you'd be able to muster enough Seventh Fonons anyway."

Cantabile snorted as she stormed out of the room.

"Luke? Can you hear me?" Jade asked again, more gently.

"Asch?" Luke gasped.

"No. It's Jade."

"Asch... What are you doing to me?... Stop..." Luke panted. His head slumped over, and Jade eased him down to the floor. Even though Jade could have easily lifted Luke up to the bed, it was best to move him as little as possible.

"Luke?!" Tear yelled, almost breaking the door down to get in.

"He passed out again."

Natalia was close behind Tear, just as worried.

"Jade? What happened?"

Jade stood up and pulled off his blood-stained gloves.

"I can't say until I'm certain. You two take it from here." he made his way back to the door, but Natalia stopped him as he passed her.

"It's Asch, isn't it?" She whispered, her eyes welling.

* * *

Guy, Anise, Jade, and Cantabile waited in silence for Tear and Natalia to return with news of Luke's recovery. Guy was fidgeting excessively, he may have been the most worried for Luke of all of them.

"Guy, sit still. You don't have to sit by Cantabile if it's bothering you." Jade was his usual carefree self.

"It's not that!" Guy insisted.

"What? What's he got against me?" Cantabile sneered. She scooted closer to him on the long sofa.

"Must you do that?! There's enough room for you over there!" Guy moaned.

"What's with him?" Cantabile asked Jade.

"Anise, why don't you explain? I don't feel like giving petty explanations right now."

"What makes you think I do?"

"Oh, you're just the cute, lovable type that can explain things so _well_."

"Oh, Colonel" Anise blushed.

"Well, judging by my past experiences concerning Jade and an explanation, he will find some way to twist it around so it falls to me." Guy mumbled.

"Good boy, Guy, you're learning so fast" Jade mocked.

"Oh, whatever..."

"Well, while you have fun telling Cantabile the thrilling story of your phobia, I will be heading home for the night." Jade rose from the sofa positioned opposite of Guy and started headed to the door.

"But Colonel!" Anise reached for his arm. "Aren't you worried about Luke?"

"Tear can fill me in tomorrow morning."

"But... but what if it takes all night?"

"Anise, please let go of my arm before you cut off circulation."

"Sorry, Colonel..."

"Enjoy your sleepover party, Anise. My old bones won't benefit from a late night, you know."

"Goodnight, Colonel." Anise finally gave in.

* * *

Jade locked the door to Guy's house behind him. Instead of turning left to go home, he went right, towards the bar.

There were only a few people there. Jade took a seat next to a man in an oversized hooded cloak and ordered a drink.

"Fancy seeing you here," Jade spoke to the man without looking at him.

"No one could ever fool you, Jade," The man turned to Jade and smiled.

"How naughty of you to sneak out of the castle again," Jade told him.

"I had a feeling you'd be here."

"Well, here I am, did you need to tell me something?"

"I was only going to ask why you never showed up today,"

"A rather...unsettling incident has occurred," Jade accepted the drink handed to him by the bartender and set a handful of coins on the counter. "I would rather not speak of it in a public place."

After Jade had his drink, and just one more, they left for Jade's house.

Upon entering, the cloaked man pushed his hood back, glad to be rid of it.

"What's happened, Jade?"

"Something strange is happening to Luke."

"Oh. Is it--"

"No, his symptoms are unlike anything I've ever seen."

"Jade..."

"They think I know what's going on and they're begging me for answers I don't have."

The other man laughed.

"Why, what's so funny, Your Majesty?"

"Maybe you should contact Dist."

"Dist doesn't know anything. I already payed him a visit and tor—I mean, _persuaded_ him to tell me all he knew."

"I'm sorry, Jade, I don't know anything about fomicry. I can't help you."

"The only other people who were involved in fomicry projects are all dead."

"This is a problem."

"Except..."

"But Jade, I only know of two other people besides Dist who know about perfect isofons, and one of them is you."

Jade's fearsome carmine eyes glinted.

"Jade, don't tell me..."

But the Colonel had a plan that he thought could work.

And the Colonel is _never_ wrong.

* * *

Cantabile wandered away from Guy's house. She'd told everyone she was just going on a walk, but she had an errand to run. It was a good opportunity to mail the letter to Daath.

She went past the bar and to the docks, where a single soldier stood guard.

"Are you still accepting letters?" She asked him.

"Sure, I can take it now, but it won't get on a ship until tomorrow evening."

"That's fine. Thank you."

Cantabile slipped him the envelope and continued down the pier. She enjoyed just watching the restless ocean stir in its quiet rage, especially at night, when it was such a rich black...

She sighed; if she were any later, Anise or Guy might come looking for her. Most likely Anise, because she still had the instinct of a Fon Master Guardian. Cantabile did not think of Anise as a bad person, but maybe she could be a little less... jumpy.

"So this is where you were."

She glanced back and saw Guy; apparently he came looking for her. Maybe Anise didn't feel like coming and she bullied him into it.

"I was just about to head back," she said.

"Then come on," Guy beckoned her. He had the foresight to bring along a fonon lantern, and Cantabile would have brought one, too, had she not had to send the letter.

"Right," She took one last look at the water before heading back with Guy, careful to keep her distance this time.

"Still no news?" Guy asked Anise upon entering.

"Nope."

"Perhaps I should help. I am a Seventh Fonist, too." Cantabile offered.

"No news is good news, they say," Guy said, hanging the key to his house on a hook in the foyer.

"Maybe they're having too much trouble gathering Seventh Fonons," Cantabile mentioned. "I know I usually don't even try to use fonic artes any more, with the Planet Storm how it is."

"I would offer them the use of the generators I made, but they may not work..." Guy said, placing his coat on another hook near the keys.

"Well, let's see them anyway,"

Guy pulled the fon machine from where he placed it under the coffee table."You see, you just have to put this part over your arm..."

He demonstrated on himself, then let Cantabile try it. The small machine was disguised to look like an ordinary glove with a metal band at the top.

"How clever," she remarked, "If it actually works."

"Well, do you want to try?" Guy asked nervously. "Jade won't cooperate, it's too big for Anise, and I can't use fonic artes, so you'll be the first."

"I don't know whether I should be honored or scared," she mumbled she started for the door.

"Just keep it covered when we go outside," Guy warned her. "We don't want to risk anyone figuring out what it is just yet."

"R-right..." she agreed.

"I'll let you two know if I get word from Tear or Natalia." Anise said.

"Aren't you tired?" Guy asked.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't be able to sleep if I tried," she yawned. "Besides, if someone came down and no one was here, then what?"

"You're right. See you in a bit, Anise."

Guy and Cantabile left Anise alone once again.

Cantabile remembered to tuck her left arm under the front of her loose uniform to hide the fon machine.

"Are we going anywhere in particular?" she asked, walking a bit closer to Guy than last time. He didn't seem to notice.

"How about just behind my house?" Guy led her around the garage that was nothing more than a workshop and storage area.

"So, what, do I have to press anything or something?"

"No, just cast something."

"Should I start small?"

"If you want."

Cantabile decided to start with an easy arte, Photon.

"_O brilliance show your wrath! Photon_!"

The fonons came swift and numerous and converged at the point she had chosen as her target. They gathered as easily as they had when the Planet Storm was active, if not a little faster.

"Well?"

"Unbelievable..." she whispered.

"I made it to work like a separate fon slot, one that's extremely sensitive."

Cantabile was compelled to test its power further, but there was not enough room to try out all of the wide-ranging artes she wanted to cast again...

"Whatever the hell it does, it works," she praised him. "I say we offer it to Tear and Natalia. It can only help."

* * *

Natalia took the fon machines Guy handed her.

"So we just put it on and cast our artes?"

"You won't believe how well those things work." Cantabile added.

"And nothing bad happened when you tried it?" Natalia still couldn't accept the fact that Guy had finally found a way to tap the Planet Storm's waning power.

"No, it was perfectly fine," Cantabile assured her. "It felt like I could use Field of Fonon changes without one, even!"

"Well, Guy, we'll be sure to check back later. I expect a good performance from them now."

She began to close the door, but Guy stopped her.

"Wait!"

"What is it?"

"How is Luke?"

"We've managed to stop the bleeding, but he's still unconscious. And he's a mess, all covered in blood. His hands were sliced deeply; we've bandaged them, but he may not wield a sword again for a while yet."

"Thank you for telling us."

"Sure."

"We'll go tell Anise, then."

"Shall I help?" Cantabile asked Natalia.

"No, I think we've got it from here."

"Okay, then..."

Natalia shut the door behind her. She went back to where she and Tear had been observing Luke for the past several hours.

"You try it first," Natalia told her, handing over the glove.

"O-okay..."

"I'm just nervous, that's all..."

Tear pulled off her glove and donned the fontech one. Immediately Seventh Fonons seemed to swarm around her, like they had before the Planet Storm stopped. Luke would be healed in no time now, and possibly well enough to walk around the city by tomorrow afternoon.

* * *


	4. Departures and arrivals

"Wait, what?" Guy scratched his head. "Lemme see."

Cantabile handed him the note that she had found on the coffee table earlier that morning. Guy read the flawless script out loud:

"'I have to go to Baticul on urgent business. Mieu insisted on coming with me. Make sure Luke isn't dead when I return. --Jade'... What the hell does he think he's doing!?"

"I asked around a bit earlier and a few people reported seeing him at the bar last night and then near the docks this morning."

"Jade wouldn't leave Luke in this condition, would he?" Guy wondered. "Not even he would abandon Luke if he didn't have a good reason."

"Who is 'Mieu', Guy?" Cantabile still hadn't met the cheagle.

Guy was more concerned about Jade, however.

"Is Anise up yet? Maybe he told her something!" Guy ignored Cantabile and went to the room in which Anise was staying.

Cantabile half-sighed, half-growled and followed him.

"Just what do you intend to do if you _do_ find out why he went?"

"He knows something about what's happening to Luke! I want to know!" Guy knocked on the door.

"Hhhm? What is it?" Anise mumbled sleepily.

"Anise! Did Jade say anything to you last night?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Jade's gone!"

"Huh?" Anise opened the door, still in her sleep clothes, and asked them again. "The Colonel left? Where's he going?"

"He said he took Mieu and got on a ship to Baticul. Do you know anything, Anise?"

"No," Anise yawned. "I don't know how you can get so excited after staying up all night."

"Guy, calm down," Cantabile said over his shoulder. "You can ask around later. We can ask His Majesty when we get an audience with him."

"Okay. Sorry."

"Can I go back to bed now?" Anise complained.

"Sure. Cantabile and I will head out to see His Majesty now."

"Now?"

"Why not?" Guy shrugged. "Tear and Natalia are still watching over Luke and Anise needs her sleep."

"We can't see the Emperor now. Luke and Natalia were requested to be present also."

"Oh, then I guess we can't go until Luke's better, huh..."

* * *

"Ooooooh, my head hurts. Where am I?..." Mieu stuck his head out the bag in which he had been placed. He was completely unfamiliar with his surroundings. He was on the floor of a very small room, too small to be in Guy's manor. He hopped out of the bag and saw he had been asleep under a desk. The bed next to him was made and the room otherwise empty. "Mieu? Master? Tear? Anybody?"

Jade walked in through the room's only door.

"Oh, Mieu, you're awake."

"Jade!" Mieu jumped up to Jade and he lifted Mieu onto the bed. "Where is everybody? Where are we?"

"Everyone else is still in Grand Chokmah. We are on a ship bound for Baticul."

"Mieu? Why?"

"To cure Luke, of course."

"How do we help Master?"

"It's simple, really. I'll need your help, though, Mieu."

"I'll do anything you ask! I want to help Master feel better soon!"

"Of course. First we need to get some information."

* * *

"Who goes there?" The White Knight barred Jade's path.

"I have a very important message to relay to the Lady. It regards her son."

"Colonel Curtiss!" The Knight exclaimed. "The Fabres welcome you any time for all you have done for their son. Go right in."

Jade was welcomed by the butler, Ramdas, and led to the drawing room.

"Jade! It's good to see you." Suzanne greeted the Colonel.

"You have news about my son?" the Duke inquired. "He was on a simple trip to Grand Chokmah, was he not?"

"Well, yes, but something very unexpected happened..."

* * *

Luke was tired.

So very tired.

He suddenly felt heavy. He grunted and twitched his arm, only to have it explode in pain. What had happened?... Why was he so tired?...

"Natalia!" Tear shook the other healer awake. "Luke's waking up!"

Luke heard voices. They were close by, but he could not place exactly who it was, only that they were female. Nor could he find the strength to open his eyes and look.

"Thank goodness!"

Luke felt a weight descend on his wrist and he moaned in agony; his hand felt mangled and sore.

"Luke? Can you hear me?" Tear asked.

Luke had no strength to say anything intelligible, so he nodded as much as he could, which wasn't very much.

"I'll go get him some water," Natalia hurried down the stairs.

"Hold on Luke. I'll heal you." Tear focused Seventh Fonons into Luke's body. "...There. Is that better?"

He nodded again, much more than last time.

"Can you talk?"

"Barely," he coughed groggily.

Natalia returned from the kitchen with a glass of water.

"How is he?"

"He can talk a little," Tear reported. "Here, you want something to drink, Luke?"

"No..."

"It's okay, take it easy."

Luke was slightly embarrassed to have Tear and Natalia doting over him like this. But what could he do?

"You want to sit up?"

"Sure," Luke tried to open his eyes, but he flinched at the light that met him. Tear stacked the pillows she and Natalia had been using behind Luke.

"Do your wounds hurt?" Natalia asked, ready to heal him if necessary.

"Wounds?..." Luke could not remember a thing that had happened. Was that why he was in so much pain? He noticed that most of his clothes had been cut from his body to allow bandages to be wrapped over various areas of his anatomy.

"I healed him just now," Tear said. "I cured almost all of his surface wounds, but he's still in pain."

"Is it your head?"

"No... it feels more like open wounds..." Luke struggled to form a whole sentence.

"You checked his legs?" Tear asked Natalia.

"Yes, I healed every cut I found."

"Asch..." Luke panted.

"What about Asch? Do you hear his voice?" Tear questioned him.

"_Asch_ is in pain..."

"What do you mean, Luke?!" Natalia cried.

"Didn't...Jade tell you...?" Luke found it getting harder to talk. "He...told everyone..didn't he...Tear?"

"No, Luke." Tear reassured him. "What made you think that?"

"I...heard you...talking..."

"Luke, we weren't talking about Asch!"

"He is...a victim, too..."

"What are you talking about, Luke?!" Natalia shouted.

"Natalia, not so loud!" Tear warned her.

"...Who...did this to us?...It _wasn't_ Asch..."

"Luke, don't push yourself. You don't have to talk!"

_Asch...I'm sorry...I blamed you..._

"Luke! Are you okay?!" Luke heard Guy's voice from the doorway.

"Guy!"

"I can't just sit there, Tear!" Guy forced his way to the bed. "What's wrong?!"

Anise arrived after Guy, knocking Tear and Natalia out of her way to get to Luke.

"Luke!..."

Cantabile followed Anise. She approached Luke's bed as well.

"Luke?"

"W-what's wrong with him?!" Anise stammered.

"Luke! Wake up! Luke!" Guy grabbed Luke's shoulder, but as soon as he did so, Luke shoved Guy into Anise and both onto Tear and out of his way. Luke tried to stand, reaching for the Key of Lorelei, but he had no energy to support his own body, and he slumped heavily to the floor.

"Luke? What's wrong?" Cantabile advanced toward him.

Luke fumbled around some more until he found his weapon, grasping it by the first part he touched—the blade. He tried to stand again, but the power drained from him when Cantabile took a step back, away from the deadly sword.

"What's happening? It's like he's possessed!" Cantabile shouted.

Tear realized what was happening.

"Fon Master, don't!" Cantabile made another attempt at healing Luke. Tear held her back and pushed her away from him. "He'll attack you again!"

"Why--?"

"Natalia! Use the medicine Jade left for us!"

"But I can't administer it! He only showed you how!"

"Do _something_! At least try! You're the only one who can get close to him!"

_Dammit, where is Jade when you needed him?!_

Natalia did not understand, but she dug through the bag of supplies they had until she found the syringes of medicine Jade had given them. Cautiously, she knelt by Luke's tense, shaking form. He did not seem to have noticed her; his unfocused eyes fixed on Cantabile. She tore the remnants of his left sleeve off and plunged the needle into his flesh. She injected all of the medicine and he didn't even flinch.

"Leave, everyone," Tear told them. "Even Natalia, too."

They did not question her, they only filed out silently.

"Luke?"

He gasped for air, writhing in the tortuous pain that invaded his body.

"Tear... What happened?"

"You pushed Guy, fell out of bed, and tried to kill Cantabile."

"What?..." he breathed. "Tell Jade...He'll know what to do..."

"Jade left for Baticul."

"Wh-why did he do that?"

"He said he was going to find a cure for whatever is happening to you. He left us medicine to give to you if you needed it."

"Just don't abandon Asch. Heal him, too." Luke managed one last sentence before Jade's medicine kicked in and he blacked out again.

* * *

Late that night, Jade was still awake in Baticul. Mieu was perched on the desk in the room in which they were being allowed to stay. His whole body was wrapped around a pen and he was struggling to write on a torn piece of paper as Jade dictated the message.

"'...Should you have any interest, please meet me four nights from today in the bar in Grand Chokmah.'"

"Slow down, I can't write that fast!"

"Then hurry up, Mieu, it doesn't have to look pretty."

"...There!" Mieu stepped off of the paper so Jade could examine the note. Some of the words were misspelled, the handwriting was shaky, and a few letters were even backwards...it was perfect.

"Good job, Mieu" Jade praised the cheagle. "You know what to do now, I presume?"

"I have to sneak down to the dock where the letters are being loaded onto a big ship and put this one with them, but I can't be seen!"

"I'm counting on you, Mieu."

"I can do it!"

Jade put on a dark cloak and led Mieu out of the castle. They made their way to the docks where the ships were being loaded with that day's mail.

"Okay, Mieu make sure you get it right. It goes it that box—the one that says 'Daath'. The only reason I'm not doing this myself is that I'd be seen, so be careful. We must do everything we can to make sure it can't be trced back to us," he whispered to the cheagle.

Mieu nodded and crawled his way to the wooden box bound for Daath. The spaces between each wide plank was just large enough to slip in a small letter.

Jade breathed a sigh of relief when they got back to their room. Mieu had really outdone himself.

"Now, Mieu," Jade told him. "You can't let anyone know we sent that letter, okay?"

"Got it!"

"Good. Now get some sleep, we have more to do tomorrow."

* * *

"Luke..."

Luke woke up. He was back in the bed, still in Guy's room, still in Grand Chokmah. It was coming so easily now, why had he not been able to figure anything out last time he awoke like this? He noticed there was almost no pain now... But why?

Asch!

He had to help Asch. Asch was suffering the same as he was, and he didn't know how to fix it. Was it even possible? Asch hadn't taken over his body; it couldn't have been him--

"Luke! Can you even hear me?!"

"Huh?"

"You _can _hear me, then."

"Asch?..."

Luke opened his eyes to complete darkness. He was still holding the Key of Lorelei. He felt no pain when he was holding it. He had no idea why, but he dared not question any reprieve he was offered.

Natalia stirred in her sleep; she was near the bed Luke was in, on a makeshift mattress of blankets. She turned on a fonstone flashlight and rose to check on Luke.

"Oh. You're awake."

"I just woke up," he said, his speech more stable than it had been the previous night.

"I'll get Tear..." Natalia located Tear's bed, which was no better than Natalia's, and she nudged Tear just enough to wake her.

Tear rolled over.

"What happened?"

"Luke's up again!" Natalia told Tear excitedly.

"Luke? How are you feeling?" Tear jumped up to speak to him.

"Better than yesterday, that's for sure, but my shoulder kind of hurts."

"I'm sorry about that," Natalia apologized. "I had to give you that medicine as soon as I could. It must have hurt."

"That's one Jade left for us. He said it also had a strong painkiller, which would explain how well you're doing now," Tear explained.

"I still don't remember anything that went on after Guy ran in the room."

"We can explain later," Tear said. "...but, why are you holding the Key of Lorelei?"

"It makes me calmer, for some reason."

"We'll talk more tomorrow; it would be nice for you to stay conscious for more than thirty minutes at a time when you wake up." Natalia ordered. "Now, go back to sleep."

"Okay, fine," Luke laughed.

* * *

"I'll be leaving Grand Chokmah today."

Guy followed Cantabile into her room.

"Why? There's no harm in waiting a few days to meet with His Majesty as soon as Luke's better!"

Cantabile halted and spun to face Guy.

"I sent a letter to Daath asking whether I could stay or if I was needed there more," she grated. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must gather my things; the ship will be leaving in one hour."

Guy shrugged.

"Oh well, I guess you'll have to come back later."

"Besides," Cantabile turned to him again. "We've no idea how long the Necromancer will be gone, much less where else he may be going or even if he plans on returning."

"Don't say things like that! Jade would never abandon Luke, or any of us for that matter!"

Cantabile said nothing as she continued the task of packing, but she was astounded by the proximity at which she had stood to Guy; he never gave so much as a nervous glance. Why was Guy not afraid of her, a female, while Luke had attempted to kill her, not one, but _three _times?

She hadn't brought much to Grand Chokmah; only what she really needed, and the Fon Master was ready to leave in no time. Guy watched her, leaning in the door frame, genuinely sorry to see her go. Even if the Fon Master was not the most courteous person in the world, but she seemed kind at heart, like Luke before Akzeriuth, though maybe it had taken more effort to see it in Luke. A_ lot_ more effort.

"What? Why do you keep staring at me like that?"

Guy jumped; he hadn't been looking anywhere in particular, he was oblivious, lost in his thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry, Fon Master, I didn't mean--"

Cantabile stood expectantly near the door.

"Well, could you at least get out of the way so I can leave?"

"Right!" Guy stepped aside, realizing he was blocking the door.

"Men," Cantabile sighed, purposely brushing her arm against Guy's. Much to her disappointment, he didn't shriek and jump away like he usually did. He even seemed unaware of her intent.

They walked out to the kitchen, where Guy found Anise cooking breakfast.

"Anise! You didn't have to cook, it was my turn today."

"Yeah, well... Wait, where are you going, Fon Master?"

"I am needed in Daath. When all others are present and ready to meet with His Majesty, I will return."

"Oh, okay... but don't you want to say bye to Luke before you leave?"

"Luke woke up?!" Guy repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, Tear told me to cook something for him, so here I am, slaving over a hot stove. Why don't you help me, Guy?" But the second half of her statement was lost in an empty room. She frowned. "Huh, not only am I feeding one man that doesn't care about me, I'm feeding another that won't even listen!"

Cantabile sneaked out of the house. Anise's ranting had given her sufficient cover to escape to the port and get away from them. She made her way to the place where the commercial boats were loading. She stepped on board the one en route to Daath after flashing the ticket she had bought that morning to a guard. A Fon Master could not linger in one place for too long, being needed by so many different people all over the world.

* * *

Meanwhile, Luke had managed to sit up on his own, and was talking to an overexcited Guy.

"Luke! You're feeling better! That's wonderful!"

"Yeah, but I'm still not in the best shape," he admitted. "The headache isn't gone completely, and I can hardly bend my hands."

"You were hurt badly," Tear told him. "You're lucky we were able to salvage the bone the way you were holding the blade of your sword like that!"

"Still we've healed most of the cut wounds," Natalia added. "Some of the larger ones are still evident, but we were able to remove most of your bandages."

"Tear, Natalia, you know I can't thank you enough for all your help," Luke smiled warmly at them.

"No, thank Guy, he's the one that let us use these," Natalia held out the glove-like fon machines.

"Nah, don't worry about it.." Guy blushed.

All four fell silent when voices were heard just outside the door.

"...down, Anise! Old men need to take it easy, you know!"

Anise burst into the room, pulling Jade in with one hand. "Colonel! You can't just _do_ that to Luke! Apologize to him!"

"But Luke is--"

"Right _there_!" Anise pointed to Luke, who greeted Jade awkwardly.

"Hi, Jade. What's she so upset about?"

"So you finally decided to come back, huh?" Guy scowled.

"Ah, Luke, you're awake," Jade said pleasantly, ignoring Guy. "And you and Tear wouldn't believe me when I said medicine to induce temporary unconsciousness would come in handy."

"You never said it would come in _handy_. You said you were just _curious_."

"Details, details!" Jade shook his head. "I trust Tear and Natalia were responsible for making sure you were alive for my arrival?"

"Yes, we did..." Natalia answered the unsettling comment. "But just what were you doing in Baticul?"

"So," Jade turned to her. "I trust nothing notable has happened in my absence?"

"Absence?" Luke asked quizzically.

"You needn't worry yourself with mere _details_, Luke. I thought I told you that."

"Colonel!" Anise folded her arms huffily. "_Apologize_ to Luke!"

"Oh, fine," Jade finally consented. "Luke, I beg your forgiveness for creating fomicry and indirectly dooming the entire world's human population."

"_Colonel!_" They shouted at him simultaneously.

"What? It was a joke," He sighed. "It's so _difficult_ when people take me seriously."

"So, anyway, what is she talking about, Jade?" Luke questioned the soldier.

"Oh, Anise just blames me for running off to Baticul to find a cure for you while you were still unconscious."

"So, you've found a cure?!" Guy was appalled.

"Nope!" Jade smiled.

"Of course..." Anise groaned.

"I'm sure he tried his hardest, Anise." Tear said.

"But I did inform your parents of your condition," he turned to Luke. "You do know it'll be a long time before you're able to get back home, right?"

"Oh..." Luke lowered his gaze and began to knead the blanket busily.

"It's not so bad, Luke," Jade grinned enthusiastically. "Look on the bright side. With any luck, you'll be able to pick up a sword within the next four weeks."

"What?!" Luke dropped the blanket and looked up at the Colonel. "You mean... I can't fight?"

"Nope, not for a while yet."

"Oh no!" Anise moaned, finally remembering something. "The food's gonna burn!" She darted down the stairs, calling behind her, "This is all your fault, Colonel!"

"I'll give her a hand," Guy said reluctantly, and he followed Anise to the kitchen.

"Oh dear, there's no telling what Anise will do when she finds out..." Jade grinned evilly. "I will assist as well. Take care, Luke." The Malkuthian soldier stepped down the stairs lightly and turned to head for the kitchen.

"_COLONEL!_" Anise roared from behind the counter.

"I'm right here. You don't need to shout, Anise." Jade materialized near Anise without her noticing.

"What-did-you-do-to-Mieu?!" she pounded her fist on the countertop, exaggerating each word and pointing to the prone cheagle sprawled on the floor.

"The poor thing got bored on our trip back," Jade began. "He said he wished he could sleep the rest of the way so he could see Luke sooner,"

"And so you drugged him. The poor thing indeed," Anise knelt by Mieu and cradled his little body. "Mieu? Wake up."

"Ow, why does my head hurt so bad?" Mieu muttered. "Where's Master?"

"It's okay, Mieu. I won't let mean old Jade get near you any more!"

"Um, I'll take over cooking..." Guy mumbled absently from the background. "Wouldn't want to interrupt such a touching reunion..."

"Thanks, Guy" Anise called; her anger seemed to have vanished. "Come on, Mieu, Tear will make you feel all better!" She carried the cheagle up to Luke's room, going out of her way to make a show of avoiding Jade.

* * *


	5. Furthering Jade's plan

Luke awoke to the same room in which he'd been for the past several days. He shifted a bit to see if Tear or Natalia would come running, but no one did. He sat up, a dull throb still lingering in his head, and let his eyes adjust to the dark. He seemed to be alone, and that in itself was approval from the healers that he would be allowed to leave the room.

Luke let his legs touch the ground gingerly, to make sure he would be able to hold himself up. He rose slowly, and he seemed sound enough to walk. He paced himself, but made it to the door, and then down the stairs, leaning heavily on the handrail.

As soon as he got within earshot of the living room, he heard Natalia's worried voice.

"Well, maybe I should go check on him; he won't sleep much later than this."

Luke braced himself against the wall, and Natalia was at his side before he could say otherwise. "Luke! You shouldn't be out of bed!"

"It's okay, Natalia, I feel good enough to move around," he shielded his eyes from the light coming from the kitchen, as his eyes were still accustomed to the dark.

"Let him do what he wants, Natalia," Tear walked up to them. "It's not like he'd stay there long if you forced him back to bed."

"I'm starving," Luke said brightly. "I hope Anise is cooking again today."

"I'm sorry, Master Luke, if my cooking isn't up to your standards," Jade rounded the corner, carrying his plate of food. "I'm not serving anyone, just so you know, go get it yourself. If you can bring yourself to endure my horrible culinary skills."

Luke thanked him anyway, not bothering to comment on his snide jabs, and he went to get his own food. Anise was already in the kitchen, heaping food onto her plate, and making a smaller portion for Mieu as well.

"Good morning, Luke"

"Hi, Master!"

"Morning, Anise, Mieu." Luke swept his gaze over the spread. "Well, for all his 'living alone' comments, Jade certainly knows how to cook for a crowd."

He sampled a little of everything, then returned to the living room. Apparently Guy did not believe in dining rooms, but they were perfectly comfortable eating on the sofas and recliners that were arranged in a rough circle around the coffee table strewn with fon machines.

Guy stumbled awkwardly into the living room, having just woken up.

"Morning everyone," He yawned, still half asleep, and the other six gave their salutations as well.

"Help yourself, breakfast's in the kitchen," Anise managed around a mouthful of toast.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry yet," Guy flopped down into an armchair.

"How can you not be hungry?!" Luke set down his already half-empty cup of coffee.

"Luke, not everyone here can eat just after rolling out of bed," Guy stretched in the oversized chair. "And, not to mention, not everyone here has been unconscious for the past three days."

"Well, gee, I'm _sorry_," Luke finished off the remainder of the bacon and stood up to get seconds.

"Luke, maybe you should wait a minute before eating any more," Tear cautioned him.

"Oh, fine," he slumped back down and made room on the table for the empty plate.

"Um, Luke, aren't you...cold like that?" Natalia asked hesitantly, referring to the fact that she and Tear had had to remove his shirt to tend to the injuries he had suffered, but he was wrapped in enough gauze and medical tape to compensate.

"Oh..." his face tinged red; he had completely forgotten. Anise stifled a giggle with a large gulp of milk. Tear and Natalia blushed, too; only Jade and Guy kept their composure, though Guy had to clear his throat and suddenly become fascinated with the ceiling trim to hide it. "Um, I guess so..."

"Well, then, Guy, I suppose that leaves you in charge of finding the young Master some decent clothes," Jade's devilish grin was still plastered on his face.

"M-me!? Why me?" Guy protested fervently.

"Well, it is _your_ house, have you no change of clothes anywhere in here?" Jade hadn't enjoyed himself this much in a long time.

"Right... Come on, Luke..." he stared at the floor, his face reddening slightly as well.

"...Okay..." Luke plucked himself out of the chair and followed Guy to one of the rooms in the back, where Guy had been staying while Luke occupied his room.

When they left, an awkward silence hung between the remaining friends. The first one to speak would be humiliated sorely by Jade, or maybe no provocation was needed, in this case.

"I was expecting one of you to mention it eventually," Jade nodded to Tear and Natalia. "I guess Tear was enjoying it too much to tell him to put a shirt on."

Tear blushed even more, if that was possible, muttered something in denial, and made a tactical, if undignified, retreat to her own room, followed by a concerned Mieu, who didn't quite understand why Tear was upset. With Tear gone, Natalia seemed as though she were about to follow her example.

"Though if it were Asch, maybe Tear would have said something before Natalia," Jade reveled in every second of his golden opportunity. "I still don't know why, because it's not like he'd look any different."

"Colonel..." Jade had successfully driven Natalia off as well.

Anise laughed so hard, she had difficulty breathing.

"Colonel...you're...so mean to them!" Anise wiped her eyes off on her sleeve.

"Mean? Who's being mean? I was merely making an innocent and completely unobtrusive observation."

Guy returned with Luke trailing behind, outfitted in one of Guy's spare shirts.

"Huh? Where are Tear and Natalia?" Guy glanced around the room. His confusion only brought more glee for Anise, who was laying flat out on her back on the sofa.

"Anise, please take care not to kick me," Jade asked her calmly.

"I'm sorry, Colonel! It's just...did you _see _the color of their faces?"

"Yes, I did, Anise, they looked as though they themselves were the ones lacking shirts."

"Um... I think we missed something..." Guy whispered to Luke.

"Jade, where did Tear and Natalia go?" Luke folded his arms expectantly.

"I believe they have withdrawn to their rooms for the moment," Jade's placid smile was unmoved.

"Right..." Luke decided that was not such a bad idea, so he, too, headed for his room to avoid any further criticism from Jade.

"Luke! Wait! I have to tell you something!" Guy forged an excuse hastily, dodging the bullet that was Jade's demented sense of humor.

Anise gasped for air and pulled herself up from where she had fallen on the floor.

"That was _priceless_, Colonel!"

"Oh? You're not going to flee from my unobtrusive observations?"

"Oh, please, Colonel, you never do that to me!"

"It seems you're right," Jade beamed. "You _do_ seem to be the most immune to my remarks."

"That's just because you'd never insult a face as pretty as mine"

"Of course, Anise," Jade flattered her. "I'll be sure to make sure you suffer tenfold at the next possible opportunity I can get" The colonel gathered the plates which had been abandoned in an array of precarious positions.

"No you wouldn't, Colonel, you know you wouldn't" Anise sang, helping him carry the glasses that were left behind as well. They carted their loads to the kitchen. "Uh-oh, Colonel, you cooked this morning, you know what that means!"

"Oh, dear, you're _right_, Anise! I'm afraid it's your turn to do the dishes."

"Colo-_nel!_" she complained, having grown out of her habit of booing at anything that dissatisfied her.

"Ah, ah, ah, now, Anise," Jade said mockingly. "Don't talk back to your elders."

"Oh, shut it, old man, most people aren't proud of going over the hill, y'know?" Anise grumbled, but it was all in good fun, as she obliged to doing the dishes anyway.

* * *

Jade made his way up the stairs to Luke's room. He tapped his knuckle on the door lightly.

"Come in,"

He shut the door behind him, not at all surprised to see Luke alone, as Guy was obviously lying about asking Luke something.

"Aah, Jade--" Luke covered his head with one of the extra pillows Guy had given him.

"Luke, don't you realize there's no point in insulting someone stupid when you have no audience?"

"Aw, now that was uncalled for," Luke sat up, removing the pillow and folding his arms across his chest. "You don't need to be so mean to Asch."

"That's what I came to talk to you about," Jade frowned as he always did when he was serious, taking a seat at the other end of the bed.

"...What is it?"

"Tear told me about what happened the night I was gone."

"Oh."

"It seems your symptoms are now exhibiting a slight pattern."

"And now comes your 'I-can't-say-until-I'm-sure' moment, huh?" Luke sighed apprehensively.

"Luke, normally I wouldn't tell you this..." Jade closed his eyes, pushing the bridge of his glasses up as high as his brow allowed. "...but I truly have no answer for you."

"What? But you're _Jade!_ You always know_ some_thing!"

"Luke, I'm sorry, but you should not rest your faith so heavily on any one person as you do me." He avoided commenting about Akzeriuth; there was no need to make Luke feel even worse. "Anyway, like I was saying, you seem to lose control whenever Cantabile is near."

"Why is that? That's insane!"

"I'm not sure yet, nor do I know why Asch is still alive."

"Y-you mean to say Asch _is_ alive?! Where is he?! What can we do to help him?!" The red-haired noble threw himself into a kneel and grabbed Jade's collar. "_How?_"

"As I said, I know nothing more than that." Jade closed his eyes again, but made no effort to get away from Luke's grasp. "I'm only telling you this because, should anything happen between now and tomorrow morning, you are to let me know."

"Why is that?" Luke shifted his weight back, releasing Jade.

"We are going to Belkend tomorrow. I want you examined by a doctor there, just in case we're overlooking something."

"Tear won't be too happy about that."

"No, that is why we will leave early and in secrecy, to avoid prying questions and any delays."

"Oh, that's why you sneaked out to go to Baticul."

"Precisely. I'm telling you in advance so you have time to pack anything you'll need. We will be returning the following day, so don't bring too much." The colonel stood began to walk toward the door.

"Okay, got it," Luke assured him with a nod.

"Oh, and one more thing..." He glanced back at Luke, the pale lamplight reflecting the blood behind his clear eyes. "Bring the Key of Lorelei."

* * *

"Fon Master! Welcome back!" Dist the Rose hailed Cantabile as soon as she set foot on the dock in Daath Bay. She had no choice but to go to the scrawny man in his ridiculous floating chair.

"Who in Lorelei's name sent you here?!" The one-eyed Fon Master was obviously not on good terms with Dist.

"Grand Maestro Tritheim, if you must know," said Dist in his annoyingly slurred voice. "He told me to escort you back to Daath as soon as possible."

"I don't need some weirdo who sits on his lazy ass all day and fights with robots to escort me _anywhere_," spat the able Fon Master. She turned on her heel and headed to the Fourth Monument Hill.

"How DARE you speak to the elegant Dist the Rose in such a manner!" Dist spun his chair around so no one could see what he was doing. "'Dear revenge journal: That stupid, one-eyed, stuck-up prissy chick Cantabile insulted my beautiful form and my precious robots! She's just jealous!...'" he mumbled in rage as he ground the tip of a highly abused pen much farther into the pages of a notebook (that had seen its better days) than was necessary.

By the time Cantabile reached Daath, Dist had just finished adding the latest entry to his revenge journal, which was quite lengthy, as there were many things he knew the Fon Master despised and he had yet to try out. She stormed the streets of the busy marketplace and headed straight up the steps to the cathedral, still angry at Tritheim's order to force her to associate with Dist.

Tritheim was waiting for her in the sanctuary of the vast building, where the tablet made up of the First through Sixth Fonstones still stood; although the Score had now been abolished, Cantabile herself had read from the fonstone several times to settle one matter or another in legal cases. She herself possessed the ability to even write the Score from the planet's memory, but she was not allowed to practice, as that was a poor example to the people of Daath who were already struggling to let go of the prophecy. Though, that would have been a very commendable virtue in a Fon Master until two years ago.

"Ah! Fon Master, you've arrived!" Tritheim held his hands up to his forehead for a second in the holy greeting so often used by the citizens of Daath.

"What do you want?" Cantabile never bothered with silly little rituals like that.

"A letter has arrived for you from Baticul," the Maestro explained.

"That's all?" The irate Fon Master snatched the letter from the middle-aged man.

She scanned the letter, which had no envelope and was simply folded a few times. The handwriting was an eyesore in itself, not to mention the misspelled words and—was that 's' backwards? It read, minus the spelling errors: _"I will give you the Key of Lorelei if you tell me everything you know about perfect isofons. Should you have any interest, meet me four nights from today in the bar in Grand Chokmah."_

"Fon Master? Is there something wrong?" Grand Maestro Tritheim tried to put his hand on Cantabile's shoulder, but she whirled around, her eye wide in shock.

"Who sent this?!" she demanded.

"We can't trace the letter to an individual sender, all we know is that it arrived on the ship from Baticul this morning."

Cantabile paced back to her chamber in the upper stories of the cathedral, hand on her face and shaking her head.

_Who could know?! No one! It's impossible! Never have I told anyone of this! But how could anyone have so much as a clue?..._

For a split second, she dropped the hand she'd had on her cheek and fixed the material of the front of her uniform so it concealed her left arm.

* * *

Luke stood in the living room watching Jade write a note for the others to find in the morning. He didn't want to leave and risk getting hurt; if he couldn't use his sword, he wouldn't be able to defend himself. And the only other one going, of course, was Jade, and he was a fonist. They would have to rely on his spear if they encountered any monsters.

"There," Jade whispered, satisfied. "Now let's go; we have to catch the earliest ship departing."

"Right," Luke said, heading for the door. Jade knelt down by the coffee table and pulled something from under it. He pulled off one of his gloves and slipped another on, then replaced his blue one on top. He pulled another object from the pile of similar ones and pocketed it.

"All right, Luke, you've got everything?" the colonel asked one last time.

"Yeah," Luke pulled back his obsidian cape to reveal the Key of Lorelei.

"Take this," Jade offered him a plain colored glove with a ring of metal around the top seam. "You may be too injured to fight with a blade, but I won't have any deadweight following me around."

"If you trust me enough to give it a try," Luke grinned foolishly, pulling the fingerless glove up under his long-sleeved shirt.

"For now, we have no choice," Jade told him in a hushed voice. "If we encounter any enemies, I will take the front lines and you can give me support."

Luke gave a quick nod, and they maneuvered the door as silently as possible. Luke smiled to himself at the thought of their new arrangement and he almost hoped they ran into a few monsters on the path from Belkend Port to the City of Fon Machines. He'd always wondered what it felt like to battle as a fonist, though he'd never had the chance to try it out openly before now. He refrained from telling Jade, as he knew the older man was probably only looking at all the _bad_ things that could happen. Jade may have been worried that both were out of practice, or at least _he _was; he didn't know the extent of Luke's ability yet. But you never can tell with Jade, he very well could have been just as excited as Luke.

* * *

Tear was the first to wake that morning. She eased out of bed to perform her routine check on Luke. She regretted leaving the bed; it was the only time since arriving in Grand Chokmah she'd had the chance to get a decent amount of sleep. Waking regularly during the night for Luke's sake had exhausted her greatly, even with Natalia's help every other shift.

Her room was close to Luke's, as was Natalia's, and her trip down the hall was not a long one. She made her way to his bed carefully, with the fonstone light she brought aimed down so as not to disturb him. She brought it up to the bed, carefully shielding its light.

But the bed was empty. Tear let her hand drop so she could see by full light of the fon machine, and she swept it over the rumpled sheets and pillows askew. She held her temper, she was very good at that, having to be around Luke all the time, and silently left the room to see if he was in the kitchen looking for breakfast. _He's like a little kid_, she said to herself.

Luke was not in the kitchen, or anywhere else she looked. Well, she didn't want to go knocking on everyone's doors to look for Luke, so she skipped the rooms occupied by her companions. Tear was just returning from checking Guy's workshop a when she noticed the note on the table in the living room. Obviously it had been written by Jade, judging by the perfectly sculpted letters that ran in parallel lines across the page: "_Luke and I have gone to Belkend. If we aren't back by tomorrow, you can assume we have been slaughtered by monsters. --Jade_"

Tear sighed angrily, taking the note with her as she went to alert Natalia of Luke and the Colonel's absence. She calmed herself before entering the room, making sure she would not give Natalia any more reason to fret than was necessary. Natalia was sitting up on her bed, her legs over the edge and resting lightly on the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she whispered to Tear. "I was just going to check on Luke. It's my turn today."

"No, Natalia, it's not that," Tear handed her the message and the light she was using. Natalia read over the perfect text a few times.

"To Belkend?! Luke is in no shape to fight if he needs to!" Natalia raised her voice more than was needed. "His hands are far too damaged to hold a sword properly!"

Tear placed her hand on Natalia's shoulder in a comforting way.

"He'll manage. Jade is with him."

"Jade! Why does he keep running off like this, anyway?"

"I'm sure there's a very good reason behind his actions. He only left last time because he knew he had to help Luke as soon as he could."

"You're right, Tear," Natalia shuddered, her eyes focused on the plush carpet in distraction. "Jade is a responsible man; he'll look after Luke."

"Right. So try not to worry," Tear pulled her hand away from Natalia and walked to the door. "You should get a bit more sleep. Neither of us have had much of a chance to rest, taking care of Luke all night."

"Okay. Thank you, Tear."

"It's nothing." Tear closed the door as quietly as she could and returned to her own bed, looking forward to a few more hours' worth of much-needed rest.

* * *

"Luke? Could you come here for a minute?" Jade motioned to Luke from the other end of the cabin they had been assigned for the trip to Belkend.

"Huh? Sure," Luke stopped trying to entertain himself by examining his hands and popping his knuckles. "What's up, Jade?"

"I've been trying to chart your symptoms to help us better figure out what's wrong with you," he tapped his pen on a stack of documents covered in tables and charts, most of which were incomplete.

"Um, so what do you need me to do?"

"Here," Jade offered him the pen. "Write your name...here." he indicated the space where Luke was to sign.

"Ah...okay...but if I can't hold a sword, I certainly won't be able to grip such a tiny pen," Luke printed his name on the line with his left hand, smudging the first two letters as he wrote the others.

"Now write it again...here," Jade pointed to another line below the first. Luke went to repeat his work when Jade stopped him. "With you right hand, please."

Luke took the pen in his other hand and drew out the curving letters of the Fonic Alphabet that spelled his name.

"I _see_," Jade said in a highly amused tone.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

"How long have you been ambidextrous, Luke? I thought your left hand was dominant."

"I'm not sure... I haven't had reason to write anything for a while."

"Surely you've done other things, though? Do you still hold a sword left-handed?"

Luke pulled the Key of Lorelei from its sheath on his back and held it loosely in his left hand, then switched to his right hand.

"Hmmm...I feel comfortable either way," he said, still not quite sure where Jade was going with this. "But my hands are so sliced up I can hardly feel it."

"_Interesting_," Jade added some more information to a chart here, filled in a box there, and added a few extra notes on another page.

"Jade, don't _do_ that to me!" Luke whined.

"I still haven't the faintest idea what's going on," Jade assured him.

"Oh, you--! You know what, I'm going for a walk on deck. I'm bored here!"

"And I shall accompany you," Jade rose from his place at the desk and pushed the chair back into place. "You wouldn't want to wander around out there alone, now would you?"

"Arg, _fine_, if you must," Luke grumbled, pulling the door open.

They strolled out on the deck, enjoying the sea breeze and the vast expanse of the Central Ocean.

"Keep your guard up," Jade told Luke, just barely audible. Luke glanced around casually, searching for what set the experienced soldier on edge, his body tense and ready.

"I've finally found you!" an extremely obnoxious voice called from above them.

"Fancy seeing you here, Dist the Runny," Jade mocked the chair-bound scientist, not even bothering to look up.

"It's ROSE! Dist the Rose!" The easily enraged man brought his floating chair closer to the ground. "No matter. I'm not here to swap insults with_ you_. Just give me the Key of Lorelei and I _might_ let you crawl away with your pathetic lives!"

Luke shifted into his fighting stance, hand on his sword, when he remembered it was no use now. Instead, he began gathering fonons to cast a fonic arte, hoping Dist wouldn't notice him and interrupt his spell. Jade smiled up at Dist, drawing his spear out of thin air and still aiming insults at him to buy Luke some time.

"Oh, don't worry, when we kill you, we'll make sure to bury you alongside your beloved chair. Oh, wait, my mistake, we'll _have_ to do that anyway; it's attached to you."

"Why you--! I am _not_ attached to my chair!" Dist pounded his fists on the gold-colored armrests. "Grrrr! This is going in my revenge journal!"

"_O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through! Thunder Blade!_"

An arrow of Third Fonons appeared behind Dist's chair, it energy building as it plunged to the deck of the ferry. A fierce volt of pure electricity surged outward, knocking Dist's chair to the ground and throwing its owner down as well.

"Jade...?" Dist mumbled, his face planted to the wood. "Don't Thunder Blade me, Jade..."

"Not bad, Luke," Jade praised the swordsman-turned-fonist. You managed to avoid hitting me, I'll give you credit for that."

"Well, thanks, but what about Dist? Do you want to knock him out and take him hostage or something?"

"How about we knock him out and throw him over the side of the boat? The water will wake him up at least and it's his own fault if he can't get his chair working fast enough to save himself."

"Jade!" Luke exclaimed. "That's horrible. Sounds like fun!"

Jade adjusted his glasses, observing how Luke would handle the situation.

"You want to do the honors?" Luke asked Jade, waving his hand toward Dist.

"Sure thing," Jade stepped up to Dist, his spear ready. "Feel lightning! _Lightning Tempest!_"

Luke giggled evilly, dragging Dist's unconscious body to the rail of the ship. He gave the man a shove and he tumbled and fell, hitting the water flatly. Dist immediately perked up, flailing spasmodically against the wake of the ferry.

"Jaaaaaade! I can't swim without my chair! Help me!"

Luke obliged a little too willingly, tipping the fontech over as well. It didn't hit Dist, but it landed close enough for him to reach it easily. Luke grew bored when it looked as though Dist were going to make it out of his predicament alive.

"Okay, he's just as stupid as ever, we already know that," Luke shrugged, sighing. "I'm going back to our room for now."

Jade narrowed his eyes and watched Luke carefully. Just as planned, Luke had been all too eager to cause Dist pain. He followed Luke to the cabin. His experiment had gone well, and he now had more information to add to the documents. It was vital that he test Luke's reaction in a variety of situations—even at Dist's expense, but Dist had never been of much use anyway. Luke was more useful than Dist. And Asch was more useful than Luke.


	6. Answers, motives, and a bar

"I'd like you to give him a full exam," Jade explained to the doctor. "Here are some charts I put together tracking his symptoms. It's not much, but they may help." The colonel handed Dr. Shu a folder that contained the records he'd kept.

"Right," the doctor accepted the paperwork, then turned to Luke. "Come this way, Luke."

"I have other business to attend to, if you would excuse me," Jade said regally. He took his leave as Dr. Shu brought Luke into the exam room. "I'll hold on to your things, Luke."

"Thanks, Jade," Luke said over his shoulder.

Jade left the doctor's office in the Fon Machine Lab and navigated the confusingly similar halls with the greatest of ease. He went to the lab in which he knew Spinoza would be.

"Jade! I didn't expect you to be in town," the old researcher greeted him.

"I need your help, Spinoza," Jade's frown told the other man this was no time to be chatting idly.

"What is it, Jade? You sound serious..."

* * *

"But...Fon Master, why are you leaving again so soon?" The green-haired youth dodged Cantabile as she forced her way to the exit of her chamber.

"If I had known you were going to be such a nuisance, I never would have made you my Guardian," Cantabile growled harshly.

"And, and, Fon Master, why are you holding your arm like that? Are you hurt?" The boy caught up to Cantabile and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Stop following me around, Florian!" The Fon Master pushed the boy back. "Leave me alone! I don't know why I bothered hiring all you Guardians again anyway. I don't need you!"

"But I'm worried you're hurt, Fon Master!"

Cantabile spun around to face the boy, her single eye blazing madness.

"Leave me alone."

Florian fell to his knees as the Fon Master whipped her dark coat around again and slammed the door behind her.

"I just want to help, Fon Master..." he whispered to himself.

Cantabile stopped for no one on her way to the port. She had to get back to Grand Chokmah. There was no one who could possibly know about her, so who could've sent that message? She had to get there, and if the person did know, she would kill him, to make sure it stayed a secret. That's all there was to it.

* * *

Jade flipped through the more professional records Dr. Shu had taken of Luke's condition, while the patient in question awaited his reaction.

"Hmmm..."

"What is it?"

"This is quite odd," Jade leafed through the first few pages. "It says you're _not_ a replica, but the level of Seventh Fonons in your body is far too high for that..."

"Like what was happening to Tear?"

"No, it seems different," the older man said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's because of your hyperresonance?..."

"What about it?" Luke asked, almost scared.

"Have you used it since you released Lorelei?"

"No."

Jade continued to read the results of the analyses, but stopped on the final page.

"Jade?...What's wrong?" Luke cringed, awaiting devastating news.

"Well, well, it seems you're a very lucky man, Luke," Jade shook his head. "Lorelei has indirectly saved your life again."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you merged with Asch--"

"_Merged_ with _Asch?_ That's--!"

"The only plausible theory," Jade adjusted his glasses. "It's the only way you can cast fonic artes, know about fon machines, and just aren't_ stupid_ in general."

"Hey!"

"It's true," Jade's expression remained unchanged. "Now if I may continue... When you merged with Asch via his reverse Big Bang effect, some of Lorelei was drawn in. That explains the excess Seventh Fonons."

"That's just...crazy!" Luke stammered.

"It seems those Seventh Fonons have canceled out your fonon separation as well," Jade brushed his bangs aside lightly. "indirectly saving your life, as I said. Also, Asch seems to only live on with Lorelei's help. Inside you, that is."

"Is that why I felt no pain while I was holding the Key of Lorelei? That was Asch?"

"Most likely."

"That's...that's..."

"Unbelievable, yes, but true," Jade tapped the stack of papers on the desk to straighten them. "Whatever you do, don't use your hyperresonace for any reason. Even I have no idea what may happen."

"Right..." Luke wrung his hands apprehensively, scared of his own power. "So, anyway, is there a cure?"

"Well, suicide would certainly fix the problem nicely," Jade smiled, now in a better mood. "Or you could just keep away from Cantabile, your choice."

"Arg...you know what, Jade? You're such a pain!"

* * *

Late that night, Jade and Luke were boarding the last departing ferry of the day.

"Jade how come we can't just stay at the inn and go tomorrow?" Luke was exhausted after the long day, and Jade wouldn't even let him rest before they headed back out.

"We don't have much time, Luke, we have to get back to Grand Chokmah soon, and we may as well do it while we we're asleep. I need a break, too, you know. At my age, it gets extremely difficult to keep up with you youngsters."

"Sure, Jade, you're about to keel over in fatigue," Luke sneered.

"Indeed I am," Jade said, as carefree and wide awake as ever. "I'm so tired I could sleep on the ground."

"Sure..."

* * *

They arrived at their destination at midmorning. Luke was glad to be off the ship. He and Jade made their way to Guy's manor, which wasn't far from the docks.

Jade hung back tactfully as Luke knocked on the door to announce their presence. It was just his luck that Natalia happened to be the one to answer.

"Luke! Just where have you been?! We've all been worried about you and you just run off without a second thought! You have some explaining to do!"

"H-hey!" Luke protested as Natalia dragged him through the door by his arm. Jade calmly walked through after the other two cleared the threshold.

Guy appeared in front of Jade, stopping him. He pulled the colonel's left glove loose, revealing a glint of metal.

"Ah, is that where they went?" he said smoothly. "You're quite the sneaky one, Jade."

"Oh no, you caught me," Jade shrugged, still unconcerned. "I'm done for now."

"H-hey, Natalia! Let me go!" Luke was still struggling in the viselike grip of the powerful archer, unable to wriggle free. He noticed Tear and Anise were there, too. It was an ambush, by all definitions of the word.

"Luke!" Natalia berated him pithily. "Why do you have your sword? Were you fighting?! And after all we did to heal you, you just go out recklessly--"

"Natalia--!"

"Well, where are the other two?" Guy confronted Jade, having recovered one of his lost fon machines. "I had five before you left, but now there are only two."

"Oh? Only two? I thought I left you with three."

"Natalia, let me go! That hurts!" Luke finally managed to get her to release his wrist, which he promptly massaged to the best of his ability.

"Despicable," Natalia pronounced.

"Colonel! You shouldn't have dragged Luke all the way to Belkend; you knew he couldn't fight!"

"Oh, we seemed to have managed," Jade smiled airily.

"What were you _doing?_" Anise pressed him again. "Tell us right now!"

"I'm sorry, Anise, but I believe it's up to Luke to decide."

"Oh," Luke forgot about his aching joint and looked down at the floor. "Um..."

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Jade remarked in a rare moment of pity for the young noble. "We can discuss it later."

"Luke!" Anise tugged on Luke's sleeve, begging him to tell them.

"Another time, Anise, I just want to get some sleep," Luke retreated to his room, avoiding any more of the ladies' wrath.

* * *

Cantabile disembarked later that afternoon. She contemplated whether to see if Guy would give her free board for a few nights, until the meeting with whoever would come to the bar, or if she should stay at the inn and avoid them until her return to Daath. The latter option was much more appealing; she was not in the mood to deal with anyone right now. Besides, if Guy found out she stole one of his prototype fontech-gloves, there was no telling what would happen.

Cantabile saw someone leave the Gardios manor, and she acted as though she hadn't, hoping he'd overlooked her as she headed to the inn. Her luck, however, had other plans, and she was soon forced to turn and acknowledge Jade as he called to her.

"Fon Master? What are you doing here?"

"I have come back to investigate something that came up shortly after my arrival at Daath." It wasn't wholly a lie, but it wasn't wholly the truth, either, but it seemed a sufficient answer for him.

"Oh? Could it perhaps to relate to Luke?" the sly colonel asked her further.

"I'm not sure yet."

Jade raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but said no more on the matter.

"Why, then, would you prefer to stay at the inn rather than among friends?"

"I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome, Colonel, you and your party are more welcome than me."

"Not at all, not at all!" Jade took her arm—her left arm—and guided her back, away from the inn. Cantabile gasped as he intentionally pulled her arm out from the cover of her uniform, but he made no indication that he'd seen it. "You're always welcome, Fon Master."

Cantabile knew he was acting very suspicious, but she could not place what he might be up to.

"You must be tired after that long boat trip," Jade continued nonchalantly. "I'm sure the others will be so _happy_ you've come back for a visit."

"No, really, Colonel, I'm fine staying at--"

"Nonsense!" Jade swung the door open and pushed her inside, where Guy was waiting. "Here's the culprit!"

"So that's where the last prototype went," Guy shifted his weight to one leg and folded his arms. Cantabile hadn't had time to hide her arm again, and now she would have to face the brunt of Guy's punishment.

"No, Guy! I can explain--"

"Explain theft, huh?" Guy approached her, his expression dismal. "I never could quite trust you."

"Why not hear her out, Guy?" Jade suggested, in what Cantabile could not decide was an act of compassion or a demonstration of his amazing ability to put anyone on the spot anytime, anywhere. Nevertheless, she seized what may be her final chance to weasel her way out of this mess.

"I needed to use fonic artes to stop the evil will of a man who wishes to take my position as Fon Master," she pleaded, making up her story spur of the moment. "He always floats out of range of sword or spear in a gaudy-looking chair and sends out his deadly robot minions to attack."

Guy could not help himself; he cracked up at Cantabile's accurate description.

"Guy, this is no laughing matter. That madman could show up here with his hordes of deadly robot minions to take over your fortress tomorrow!" Jade reprimanded the younger man.

"I believe I've met said madman," Guy snickered. "He's about as deadly as the mud on the bottom of my shoe."

Cantabile realized her ruse had failed and dissolved miserably in the face of these two whom had apparently met Dist the Rose before. Oh, never mind, it hadn't been a very solid reason anyway. Who _could_ think of one with Jade waiting on an answer?

"So what should we do with her?" Guy asked Jade, shifting his weight back again into a more relaxed position.

"Well, she earns points from me for giving me such an amusing mental image of Dist taking over your house with robots."

"You're hopeless..." Guy rolled his eyes, then he addressed Cantabile. "You're lucky you're a woman; I'd never lay my hands on a woman."

"For punishment or otherwise," finished Jade. "Anyway, I suggest we release her."

"Jade?!"

"If she is still hanging around the city two days from now, I will arrest her and see that she is stripped of her position as Fon Master."

"Jade! You can't just let her go like this!" Guy argued.

"In exchange, return what you stole," Jade ignored Guy and took the fon machine from her. "Have a nice day." He pushed her out the door, not giving her a chance to respond, and locked it from the inside.

Cantabile just stood there, stunned. What the hell was all that about?! She knew Jade would not have released her if he hadn't a good reason; maybe she should just go back to Daath tonight and forget about the Key of Lorelei. But who would be willing to give up the valuable weapon for that information? It had to be one of them: Luke, Tear, Jade, Anise, Natalia, or Guy. Luke was ruled out; he'd fully protected his weapon on the Albiore when they'd first met. Tear, Natalia, and Anise showed no particular interest in anything regarding replicas, but Guy and Jade she could question. But, then again, neither were in Baticul recently. Maybe it was yet another who would steal the Key from them?...

Cantabile headed to the inn, her original destination. She payed the innkeeper for a single room and turned in for the night. It was the third day since the letter had arrived from Baticul, and she would go to the bar tomorrow night, to obtain the Key of Lorelei in exchange for a bit of useless information.

* * *

The storm came upon the sleeping city of Grand Chokmah during the night. It was coming from the east, most likely spawned by the same conditions that constantly blanketed Mushroom Road in a veil of mist. Grand Chokmah had not seen any rain for a while, so the citizens did not mind too much; a rainy day every once and a while was welcomed as a day to spend at home with one's family.

If one had a home and family.

But Cantabile did not. She had a home, but it was across the ocean in Daath, and she felt out of place even there. She did not particularly enjoy the sound of voices and preferred to be alone anyway. Now she was just a lonely Fon Master, who had been threatened by a Malkuthian colonel the previous night for the crime of theft, unable to sleep in her room at the inn. The trust she'd so carefully cultivated with the group was shattered in an instant; the instant she saw Jade leave Guy's manor.

Jade. The same name as the infamous fomicry researcher, Dr. Jade Balfour. But there was no way he could be the same Jade she knew.

She turned to the wide-silled window across from her bed and gazed out. The sky was marbled ebony and pearly grey, sizable rain splattered itself against the glass, and the distant groan of thunder sounded to the east. Cantabile walked over to the window sill, which had been elongated and fashioned into a seat, and she threw herself down so she could have a better view.

Her mind wandered, and, though she did not want to think of her past, she could not will her painful memories away. Dr. Jade Balfour—she wished he were not dead, just so she could have her revenge. How she wanted to taste his blood, kill him slowly, and laugh as she heard his screams! That bastard! Everything was his fault, everything that went wrong in her life could be traced back to the invention of fomicry. Fomicry ruined her life, even if it had been around before she was born. She could not imagine her life had fomicry not been created, though she was sure anything was better than this!

Cantabile found herself thinking about how she had grown up, always overshadowed by someone else. No matter where she went, there was always someone else there to vie for the attention of another. That's why she had to be the Fon Master, the leader of the Order of Lorelei. No one could have a greater title than Fon Master. She even traveled the world alone—unaccompanied by Fon Master Guardians, as all the previous weakling to call themselves Fon Master had. She did have Guardians, but she never gave them any orders that required them to leave Daath; they were more like personal slaves than bodyguards. Cantabile could fight for herself.

Her other subordinates were all fools, especially the new Commandant. Tear Grants was her name, and she had only given Tear the promotion because Tear had to take over her brother's work. Tear had defeated her own brother in battle to take his place as Commandant. Foolish though she was, Cantabile admired Tear for her bloodthirsty approach to moving up through the ranks. Maybe she felt for her a little more than others because she had done the same thing to become Fon Master...

_Cantabile walked through the empty halls of Daath's cathedral. She made her way to where she knew Tritheim always was. She was nervous; the day had finally come, and, with Dist's help, she would become the Fon Master._

_When she arrived, another girl was there. She was only about fifteen, but she still carried little dolls around wherever she went. How childish. And worse yet, she was chatting with Tritheim so casually, dropping hints about how she wanted the position of Fon Master. Tritheim seemed to be seriously considering her to be the Fon Master. He was an obstacle._

_The other girl whispered one last thing to Tritheim before running off, nearly slamming into Cantabile in her haste. Cantabile addressed the Grand Maestro carefully._

_"Grand Maestro, would you mind coming to my room? I have to ask you something in private..."_

_"Of course, Cantabile," the gullible old man followed Cantabile to her room. As she lured him into her chamber, reserved for the God-Generals, she shook anxiously, hoping all would work out well._

_He closed the door as he walked in and went to Cantabile, who had gone further in. As he did, Dist beat him unconscious from where he was hiding behind the open door. The man slumped forward, and Cantabile caught him. Dist floated over to where Cantabile was and relieved her of her burden._

_"All I have to do is make a replica to replace him?" Dist crowed in his silly laughter. "You do know the original may die?..."_

_"I don't care," Cantabile turned her back to the annoying man. "Just take his data, make a replica, and teach it all it needs to know so know one notices anything. By then, the original should be dead, so do it as seamlessly as you can."_

_"Right, right, of course," Dist stroked his own hair lovingly. "And, in return, you will hire me as a God-General again?"_

_"Agreed," Cantabile's voice showed no pity. "Just make sure the replica has no reason to admire that Anise girl over me."_

* * *

Later that night, Cantabile readied herself to pay a visit to the bar. She wore a heavy leather trench coat over her Oracle Knight uniform, just in case she would be recognized when she went outside. She still held the note she had received from the stranger from Baticul, so she could prove her identity to him when they met.

She entered the bar. It was packed with disgusting, rowdy drunkards howling over their gambling; she hoped she would not have to wait here long. She tried to hold her head down as much as possible, as a female in such presence would undoubtedly be targeted before long. Then she noticed a man in a large cloak, the hood pulled over his head, sitting alone in a corner. She saw a flash of a blade and the silhouette of the unique shape of the Key of Lorelei as he adjusted the weapon under the table. He was obviously trying to keep it hidden while simultaneously allowing her to see it.

Cantabile took a deep breath and pushed her way through the noisy crowd.


	7. The wanted Oracle Knight

"I knew you'd be here," The man grinned at her from under his hood.

"I need the Key," she slipped him the letter he'd sent her. "What will it cost me?"

"A truthful answer to all my questions."

"Anything."

"Why do you need the Key of Lorelei?"

"You said these questions would regard replicas. Why do you care of my personal desires?"

"Did you not just agree to answer my questions truthfully?" the man pointed out. "Tell me why you need the Key."

"I will use it to unite Kimlasca and Malkuth."

"That's not the whole picture."

"I will make the Order of Lorelei fall, and Padamiya will become the base from which I rule over the other two countries."

"Anything else?"

"I would want revenge, but the man I wish to kill is dead and gone, now."

"So you're just a power-hungry dictator looking for revenge."

"As I said, I can no longer have my revenge." Cantabile traced pictures into the dust on the tabletop, which was stained with the graffiti of the bar's regular visitors. "Jade Balfour is dead."

"Where did you hear that?" the man seemed to show a great interest in the name.

"I heard he was killed at Akzeriuth, but rumors have been floating around that he survived. There is no way he could've lived through that."

"Your vengeance is your own business," the man shrugged, taking a sip of the heavy whiskey he'd ordered. "Anyway, about replicas. What do you know about perfect isofons?"

"I've only heard of this secondhand," she whispered as she glanced back to make sure the men were still engrossed in their cards, chips, and beer. "but it's called the Big Bang effect..."

"Yes, I know about that all ready," the man calmly put his hand to the bridge of his nose, as if adjusting his glasses. "I want to know about_ you_."

"Me, personally, you mean?"

"Yes."

Cantabile hesitated. He knew something and was just trying to get the details out of her. No matter, he could know all he wanted, she would just end up killing him with his own blade soon enough.

"I am a replica."

"I thought so."

"Not a perfect isofon, granted."

"Of whom?"

"Yulia Jue."

"_Fascinating_." the man swept the drips of condensation from his mug of alcohol. "I've heard rumors of a replica of Yulia, but I thought she died."

"No. Yulia foresaw the creation of fomicry in the Score, and she had Dr. Southern-Cross build a fomicry machine. He extracted her data, and then she told him to hide it and destroy all evidence of the machine."

"And then the data was just recently found, was it not?"

"Yes. A highly experienced crew was chosen to create a replica from the data left behind. It was done after Azeriuth, in secret. Since no one could find Dr. Balfour, he was presumed dead and the experiments began without him."

"Is _that_ what happened?..." the man mumbled to himself, so Cantabile couldn't hear.

"That's when I was born. They raised me in secrecy and hoped for me to join the Order of Lorelei."

"And why, exactly, did they do all this?"

"They never told me directly, but I kind of found out on my own. They wanted me to be weak and easily controlled by others, so they could use me. But, when I realized this, I took it upon myself to become independent, so I could use my power for my own ends."

"But you still hold a grudge toward those who gave you life?"

"Yes. They treated me like dirt and always had another child around, too, just so they could show me they cared about another more than me." Cantabile looked at the man's eyes, or where they would be in the shadow of the hood. "That's all the information I have to tell."

"Right, of course," the man pulled the Key of Lorelei from where he had hidden it under the table. "The Key of Lorelei, as promised."

Cantabile grabbed the Key eagerly; now she could complete her plan. In her excitement, she almost forgot about the information she had given the hooded man.

"Oh, one more thing," he stopped her from leaving the table to order herself some celebratory vodka. "Jade Balfour is _not_ dead."

"Just rumors," she snorted, making sure no one had heard their conversation.

"No they're not," the man pulled back his hood. His silky brown hair framed his burning ruby eyes perfectly. He wore an eternal smirk, but no one could ever tell what he was thinking.

"You?!" Cantabile's whispered tone became a venomous hiss as she made as if to strike him with the Key of Lorelei.

"You wouldn't want to make a scene here, now would you, though?" Jade asked her, his permanent grin showing pure joy.

"_You!_" was all Cantabile could muster in her shock and rage, but she, surprisingly, did not react as Jade had expected. She simply whirled around, struggling to hold her temper, and made her way past the boisterous gamblers to the door. She would kill him, she would kill him the _fun_ way, at another time and place.

"Is seems the young Fon Master is less predictable than I imagined," Jade shook his head and muttered to himself. Then he grinned, an idea forming in his fertile mind. "...or not."

The colonel followed the path Cantabile had made through the men. On his way out the door, he _accidentally_ knocked over a man's drink, spilling it onto his pair of kings as he nudged the door open just a bit. The man rose to face Jade, growling like a wild animal. "Oh dear, how clumsy of me. My humblest apologies, my good friend." Jade said politely.

"You wanna pick a fight with me?!" the piglike man reeked of booze and sweat, but Jade never flinched. "Huh?!"

"Of course not, my bovine friend, I was merely trying to make my way out of here. The company of such idiots as yourself was starting to get on my nerves."

"What did you say?!" The drunk fool probably only heard the word 'idiot', as he couldn't comprehend the something as long as 'bovine' anyway.

"You must learn to _listen_ when someone is addressing you because they just may not feel like repeating themselves."

The man still could not understand a word out of Jade's mouth in his intoxicated state, but he assumed the sentence was a string of further insults, so he threw his girth at Jade, who stepped aside as the portly wad of flesh barreled past, bursting through the door. It was just his luck that Cantabile was waiting for Jade just outside, her sword unsheathed and held forward.

"What the--?!" she gasped as the man impaled himself on her blade, unable to halt his charge. He slumped back, blood pooling at Cantabile's feet instantly.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Jade stepped out casually, signaling to the night watch that was near the dock. "I'm surprised you managed to penetrate his immense gut at all, but it seems this is a homicide, so I must arrest you now. I am sorry, Fon Master."

"What the hell?!" Cantabile fought the soldier that appeared behind her when he tried to restrain her.

"Did I say you had two days to leave the city?" Jade leaned closer to whisper to the thrashing Fon Master. "We'll hold you in our custody until I can mail a letter to Daath, and you know how much they like to analyze the contents of mail coming from capital cities."

* * *

Cantabile was brought to the Malkuth Military Headquarters. She was taken to a holding room; she couldn't really call it a cell because it was furnished nicely and seemed more humane than where Jade made her think she was headed.

Jade stood near the open door as the soldier removed her binds. When he finished, Jade nodded for him to wait outside for him and turned to the captive when the door closed.

"I will have my chance to kill you," she glared at the colonel.

"I look forward to your next visit," Jade said pleasantly. "For now, I must write a letter to Grand Maestro Tritheim and Teodoro asking what I shall do with you. I would _so_ like you to be able to stay here in Grand Chokmah a little longer, but I will do as they say."

He left the room, and went to speak to the soldier whom he had take Cantabile's weapons. "This is unexpected," he touched the hilt of the Key of Lorelei lightly.

"Is there something wrong, Colonel Curtiss?" the guard asked him, alert.

"No, you're doing a fine job. Make sure to keep these under guard until a reply is sent back from Daath."

"Yes, sir!" the soldier saluted his commanding officer.

Jade kneaded his brow and headed back to his office at the end of the hallway. As he approached the room, a maid came out.

"Colonel Curtiss! Good evening. I just finished cleaning your office."

"Good evening, my dear lady, and thank you," Jade flattered the maid into a blush and she pushed her cart of cleaning supplies away, giggling to herself.

He searched the well-organized bookshelves in his office for any information about the secret project Cantabile had spoken of. He'd never heard of this; which made sense, because if Cantabile was correct, he was running around the Qliphoth at the time, and by the time he got back up to Belkend, no one would have spoken of the project outside closed soundproof doors.

"Hey, Jade, how's it going?" Peony stuck his head in Jade's office.

"I'm fine, Your Majesty, but isn't it past your bedtime?" Jade greeted his friend without looking up from his work. "And, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't have time for a sleepover party."

"How'd you know that's what I came to ask you?" The Emperor went along with Jade's joke. "I had Saphir and Nephry and Gelda coming, too..."

"Please, spare me the thought of a sleepover party amongst your rappigs, Your Majesty." Jade shut yet another book and set it down on his desk. "I have more important work to do anyway."

"Oh! Is it that prissy chick you took into custody earlier?"

"Please don't insult the Fon Master, Your Majesty," Jade gave up scanning the bookshelf and leafed through the documents in a filing cabinet.

"She's the Fon Master, huh? Well, if you had made your report to me with Guy, Natalia, and her, I would know who she was, but you just neglect me..."

"You wouldn't _believe_ how busy I've been," Jade pulled a particularly interesting page from a folder labeled "Old Drawings". "Oh, look how cute. It's a picture you drew of us as kids."

"Whoa, really?" Peony knelt down beside Jade to have a look. "Hahaha, yup, that's me and you and Nephry, and Saphir's in the background, getting beat up by mean ol' Jade. I thought you threw these out long ago."

"I thought I did, too, but apparently they had enough sentimental value to live a little longer."

"I never thought of you as one who'd have any sentimental attachment to anything, Jade," The Emperor flipped through all the old pictures, which, for some reason, always depicted Saphir getting hurt, usually by Jade. "But maybe you just like to see Saphir getting hurt, no matter how poor the artist was."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Jade said in his way of sounding as confusing as possible. He left the drawings to Peony while he scoured the records in the cabinets at either end of his desk. "So, why did you come here, Your Majesty?"

"Just a little visit," The carefree emperor grinned at a doodle of Jade torturing Saphir with a fonic arte. "What are you looking for?"

"Have you ever heard of a replica being made of Yulia?" Jade sighed for the umpteenth time and rechecked the bookshelves.

"A replica of Yulia? No, if anyone did that, they must have had to have done it in secret."

"While you were preparing for war," Jade grumbled, unused to having to look so hard to find anything in his tidy office. "It must have been done right after Akzeriuth fell, when everyone else was so preoccupied."

"I can ask the Intelligence Division about it, if you'd like," Peony stood up, leaving the drawings scattered on the floor. "They might know about it."

"That would be most helpful, Your Majesty," Jade bent to pick up the papers Peony left in disarray. "I'm just going to head home, so maybe you should, too. It's getting late, and you don't want them to start a city-wide search again, now do you?"

"Okay, I know you're just getting rid of me, Jade, you don't have to be so polite. I can't wait to get home to my cute little Jade anyway. 'Night!"

Jade didn't respond; he shuddered at one of the only things that ever made him shudder:_ cute little Jade_. Peony was the only person on the face of Auldrant who knew how to do that to Jade. But maybe that's why they were best friends.

* * *

The lock on the door was a simple one, and it wasn't long until Cantabile had picked her way through it. She waited until she heard the soldiers outside her door bid the colonel good night. She sang an entrancing lullaby, and was rewarded with a double_ thump _as the two guards fell, sleeping, to the floor.

She eased the door open; she was lucky it opened inside, otherwise she may have woken them as she tried to get out. Cantabile dragged their bodies into her room so a random passing guard wouldn't notice anything unusual, then she poked around looking for her weapons and casting Nightmare on anyone in her way. It was a good thing Yulia's fonic hymns didn't require her to gather fonons like most fonic artes; she could still use the hymns without the Planet Storm.

Her weapons weren't far, as there were few rooms in the building anyway. She found them guarded, but only just, in the armory, and easily recovered the Key of Lorelei and her own blade. She also slipped a few daggers through the belt of her uniform, just in case.

Cantabile sang Nightmare as she made her way through the halls, hoping all that heard her song fell and she would not have any trouble making her getaway. Hell, her long list of crimes was only growing longer now, but the only time she'd been caught was when it wasn't her fault. Well, the only time she'd been caught by the military and held captive, that is.

* * *

"An Oracle Knight with an eye patch? Sure I'll keep a lookout," the guard saluted another that looked identical behind his armor, who was reporting on the matter of Cantabile's escape. Damn! They'd found out all ready! But no matter; she was out and that's all the chance her sly mind needed.

Cantabile never thought she'd be so glad to have her trench coat with her; it covered her uniform completely. To further ease the matter, she stuffed her eye patch into one of the spacious pockets. It was only to hide her identity; it was amazing how much a simple eye patch made her appearance differ so greatly. It also was a good thing not many people knew her by looks alone with her position as Fon Master. She was still too new to be well-known. Was her luck finally turning?...

Knowing it would be highly suspicious for her to buy a ticket that night from the soldier whom had just been ordered to alert his fellow men of her presence, Cantabile went back to the inn for the night. There, she could contemplate her next move, as she obviously couldn't hang around Grand Chokmah for long, not with that damned Necromancer so close by.

Cantabile readied herself for bed upon returning to her room out of an itching anxiety. No more ferries would run until nigh on noon tomorrow; they never did on Remdays. Cursed weekends! Or, at least, in this case there was reason to curse weekends. It was a rare exception.

She stared out the window, her harsh gaze boring through the glass. The city was still slick with rain, as it hadn't quite let up since the storm last night. The Fon Master forced her thoughts away from the predicament she would face tomorrow. It drained her unnaturally, and only then did she realize how worried she was. She fussed with her hair as though doing so would make the ideas come faster. Once she got to Daath, she could probably locate Dist easily. As obnoxious as that dreaded man could be, he certainly was useful; no matter what abuse she needed him to take for her own purposes, he would always come back alive, ready to be bribed into the role of a scapegoat again and again. It never failed and was quite amusing, after all, between his goofy chair and silly little revenge journal.

Now on the track of thinking of things that would please her (not that Dist was pleasing, she just enjoyed watching him flail in anger and mutter dark things into his revenge journal), she turned her attention to Jade. So, that bastard was alive, and the bearer of the Key of Lorelei. How ironic that the one who imprisoned her was the one who gave her the power to--

That's_ it! _Why not just summon Lorelei now, destroy this wretched city, and bear the sad news of the fallen city to Daath, under cover of the help she'd given to the poor civilians in the face of, say, a tornado, despite her rank as Fon Master? It would gain her the respect of the people, if anything, and if she could get away with it, most of her immediate problems would be solved.

To summon Lorelei... well, all she'd heard was that you needed the Key of Lorelei and the Grand Fonic Hymn. That seemed easy enough, but she was missing one thing: the Second Hymn. Cantabile was never one to use defensive artes in battle, so she'd skipped on to the Third when she was first learning them from old crumbling books from Yulia City. Damn. So stupid. Well, then, maybe she _wasn't _going to Daath anymore.

Yulia City seemed to be the most logical choice; its name belied its founder and would be the most likely place in which to find old scraps of records with some kind of clues, as it was where she had stolen the books she needed to learn her hymns. And so help anyone who might even _think_ of restricting her access to those documents. She was the Fon Master, dammit, and if that wasn't good enough for them, she was Yulia's replica to boot. She had every right to know those hymns!

Cantabile made no effort to calm her ever-growing rage. It gave her, for some twisted reason, a sense of satisfaction. She wondered the meaning of happiness; was it what people generically classified as 'happy', or was it from which any one being personally found enjoyment? Her strange wandering thoughts seemed to have a calming effect, however, and she sought out her 'happiness' through another outlet.

Jade Balfour. Now that she knew his whereabouts, all she had to do was have Dist keep tabs on him until she found the best way to kill him slowly and painfully. This would require some thought to be done properly and to yield the most possible _satisfaction_. Burning, perhaps? Oh, but not too much burning. Knife wounds would be fun, yes, knife wounds and anything she could find to irritate them. Or there was always Dist's endless supply of mysterious unpronounceable chemicals to wreak havoc on the body from the inside out...

She snickered evilly to herself. Oh, that would be fun, indeed...

* * *

Cantabile rose the next morning in a good mood. Perhaps it was because of her thoughts on torturing Jade last night, or maybe it was that she'd had a lengthy and thoroughly _satisfying _lucid dream on the same subject, but she was much more relaxed; all the better for the 'I-didn't-just-break-out-of-jail' act she had to put on. She pulled on her coat and glanced out the window, noting that it was a foggy morning. The fog may cause delays in the ferries' schedules, and that was the last thing she needed now. She gathered up the last of her belongings and left the bed to be made by the inn's staff, as she was in too good of a mood to ruin it with petty chores she was paying to have done for her.

She returned the key to the day clerk, relieved the other one who saw her when she checked in was the man on the night shift, so no questions were asked so far. That was a good sign; she fervently hoped her lucky streak would hold out long enough for her to buy the ticket and get the hell out of there.

Cantabile was drenched the instant she opened the door to the inn. The fog was much thicker tan she imagined, and it blurred her vision drastically. At least she didn't have to deal with an eye patch on top of that. She had been to the dock so many times by now, it was a routine walk, and soon she found herself before the guard who was supervising the boarding of one of the large passenger boats.

"Excuse me..." she made her voice sound a little more feminine than she would have liked, but this was for the sake hiding her identity, dignity aside. "Can you tell me where this boat's headed?"

"Sure, Miss," the soldier was the same one on guard since last night, another good sign, as he was tired and less alert now. "This boat's headed to Kaitzur, then a little further to Chesedonia. You need to buy a ticket?"

"Yes, but are there any boats out to Yulia City today?"

"Nope, sorry," the man glanced down the boats' schedules. "The only other departures are to Sheridan and then this boat will bring another group to Kaitzur and Chesedonia again late tonight."

"Oh, then are there any tickets remaining for this departure?"

"Yes, Ma'am,"--Was he _trying_ to tick her off with all his 'Miss'ing and 'Ma'am'ing?! What's next, 'young lady'?!-- "That'll be 300 Gald, then, if you're boarding."

"Certainly," Cantabile handed over three coins to the man, and he gave her a slip of paper with the dates of departure and arrival written on it.

"Have a safe trip, young lady."


	8. Jade's still plotting!

"You _what?!_"

Jade only gave the other five a confused look.

"Well, what's wrong with that?" he asked innocently. "I saw no problem with it."

"How the _hell_-- You gave her the Key of Lorelei after she told you she wanted to destroy Daath?!" Guy threw his arms up in hopeless exasperation. "I can't _believe_ you!"

"Would you _please_ allow me to finish?" Jade took a sip from his coffee. "I arrested her shortly after."

"Colonel! You shouldn't scare us like that!" Anise tugged on his uniform.

"So the Key is safe?"

"Of course not, Luke, she broke out immediately and made a clean getaway this morning."

"_What the hell?!_"

"_You bastard!_"

"_Colonel!_ How could you!"

"Why did you not stop her?!"

"I cannot believe you, Colonel Curtiss."

Jade only grinned even more at their rising anger; he was having the time of his life making these kids go absolutely nuts.

"My, did you rehearse this so you could all say your lines at once? How thoughtful, putting on such a good performance for my sake," Jade's wicked smile only grew larger in the face of their ever-mounting desire to pulverize him. "So, now that you all have had your fun, shall we go purchase tickets to Chesedonia to catch up with her?"

"Jade, how _could_ you say something like that _now_?!" Guy's fury knew no boundaries. "If you know where she's going, why didn't you stop her?!"

"If I had caught her on the ship this morning, then it wouldn't be much fun, now would it?"

"Fun!" Even Tear's nearly infinite patience had its limits, and Jade was usually the one to push her to that point. "Colonel Curtiss, this is a very serious situation. If she is indeed a replica of Yulia, there's no doubt she knows the Grand Fonic Hymn. She could summon Lorelei at any moment!"

"Lorelei!" Luke's eyes widened when he finally realized where he'd seen the color of Cantabile's eye before. "Her eye was the color of Lorelei!"

"How observant, Luke," Jade praised him jubilantly. "I thought you'd never notice."

"What does that mean?" Guy seemed to be a bit less apt to have an outburst, but his tense posture indicated otherwise. "And why does it matter? We have to catch her!"

"Oh, that's_ it_." Jade stood up from the sofa, having finally reached one conclusion or another.

"Jade, don't try to get out of--" Natalia started, but Jade cut her off.

"That explains Luke's reaction," the colonel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Lorelei grew restless inside Luke because it mistook Cantabile for Yulia."

"But it was interpreted as Asch," Luke finished his statement. "Because Asch and Lorelei are the same."

"Precisely," Jade was glad he was spared the need to explain any further.

"Asch and the Seventh Fonon..." Natalia mused, gazing at the floor absentmindedly. She was not necessarily overjoyed by this news. "Tear, didn't you say the Key of Lorelei is _made_ of Seventh Fonons?"

"That's right..." Tear didn't bother ending her sentence; they all knew what that meant.

"So, wait, I'm totally lost right now. Asch _is _Lorelei now?" Anise looked up to the colonel for an answer.

"In a manner of speaking," Jade told her as he reached for his coffee. "But not_ all_ Seventh Fonons."

Anise stared blankly at him for a moment, then worked out some explanation to herself that made sense.

"So, now that that's cleared up, shall we go buy the tickets now?" Jade returned to his normal aloof self.

"Right..." Guy still seemed cross with the older man. "I'll go if you need me to."

"An excellent suggestion," Jade said in a rather offhand tone. "Here's the money you'll need." Jade handed Guy two thousand-piece coins, giving him a warm smile. "I wish you luck."

"...Luck? I'm just going pay for six boat tickets."

"You'll see" Jade winked at him. Guy was thoroughly scared now. Anyone would be after receiving a _wink_ from _Jade_.

"Um, okay, thanks, I guess..." Guy buttoned his coat; the fog was still dense enough to be considered rain.

Guy couldn't see far ahead, but it had certainly cleared up since morning. He made his way to the dock and blanched in fear of what he saw. He would have his revenge on that bastard. He was sick of Jade's subtle and unpredictably _horrid _sense of humor.

"Good day, sir, are you here to purchase a ticket?" the cashier was friendly enough, and Guy wouldn't have minded had she not been _female_. But it was too late to back out now.

"Um, g-good day," the unfortunate lad returned her greeting. "I need six tickets to Chesedonia..."

"Of course! That'll be 1,800 gald for the night trip."

Guy fingered the two thousand gald hesitantly before setting it on the counter of her little stall rather than handing it to her. She scooped it up and handed him six tickets.

"K-Keep the change," Guy stammered rigidly as he accepted the slips of paper gingerly. He practically ran back to his manor before she could respond.

Guy burst through the door panting, much to Jade's amusement.

"Oh, Guy, we're in no hurry, you needn't exhaust yourself unnecessarily on our account."

Guy lifted his head slowly to stare Jade in the eye.

"I'm going to _kill_ you, bastard!"

"Guy, what's wrong?" Tear was still sipping her coffee in the living room, but the others had left. Guy ignored her, however and stormed up to the tall colonel, prodding his chest.

"You _knew_ it was a woman today, didn't you?"

"Of course not, I was outside no longer than it takes to get from my house to yours today."

"And Peony will teach his rappigs to fly!"

"Oh, yes, speaking of His Majesty..." Jade abruptly changed the subject. "We are to report to him today with or without the Fon Master. We've delayed long enough."

"Jade, your sense of priority will never cease to amaze me," Guy shook his head, having given up his futile argument with Jade. "I guess he'll want to see the fon machines, huh?"

"Yes, he will," Jade pronounced silkily. "He said all of us were to come, Luke included."

"As much as I'd like to protest, I wouldn't dare disobey the Colonel," Tear sighed, setting her half-empty cup on the table.

"A wise move, my dear," Jade turned to her. "There are dire consequences to those who disobey."

"Only the most possible humiliation as possible," she gathered the dishes she'd brought to the living room. "At least he means us no bodily harm."

"Not yet," Guy rolled his eyes. "That man is as evil as Luke is an idiot."

"'Was' would be more appropriate, Guy," Jade corrected him pointedly. "Luke used to be no more than your average imbecile."

"But now?" Who should have walked down the stairs at that opportune moment but Luke, his arms folded in disgust.

"But now he is mooching Asch's intellect, it seems," Jade continued as though he knew Luke would join them at that moment.

"Oh, I'm _sorry_, then," Luke sneered moodily. "Should I go back to making stupid comments, Your Highness?"

"Ouch," Guy muttered, hoping Jade hadn't heard. But, he did, of course.

"Whatever would please Tear more," Jade shrugged, nodding to the woman in question.

"What's Tear got to do with this?"

"Oh," Jade covered his mouth as if he were clearing his throat. "You two still don't know, I guess."

"What are you talking about?"

"Pitiful," Guy shook his head, leaning against the wall slightly.

"What do you mean?!" Luke held his arms out toward the two taunting men.

"Even after a blatant confession, he's still clueless..."

"A lost cause, it seems," Jade strode over to the kitchen to help Tear wash the dishes.

"Guy! What's so funny?!" Luke knew his chances of getting an answer out of Jade were about the same as getting time to stop.

"Luke, Luke, Luke..." Guy brushed past his friend on his way up to his room. "If not even Asch can help you now, you and Tear are done for."

"Huh?" Luke struggled to find what Guy meant, but to no avail. He considered helping Jade and Tear with the dishes, but decided to avoid Jade until this matter had settled down. That man could be as nasty as the devil when he had the mind to.

* * *

"That's quite the contraption, Guy," Peony told the inventor. "Are you sure that's the right voltage divider?" 

"Augh, stop it, I _know_ you don't know what you're saying. Luke had me replace it the other day."

"Ah! Luke! Finally learning something other than the sword, eh?" the cheerful emperor turned to the redheaded noble. "I bet Jade's proud of you, huh?"

"Thrilled, Your Majesty," Jade grinned impishly at them. "You wouldn't believe how useful his fonic artes were just two days ago."

"Oh, fonic artes, too?" Peony seemed to share Jade's false enthusiasm. "I never bothered with fonic artes myself. Takes too long to cast, while I could be slicing up the enemy much quicker."

"Your Majesty, we did not come here to discuss fighting styles," Jade said, just barely peeved. "I wish you'd stay on topic, please."

"Oh, right, right! The fon machines!" he examined the gloves closely. "I bet Jade's all ready applied a fonic arte to himself to replace these things, huh? What's that make now, four or five?"

"Your Majesty, I do not recklessly do things like that to myself," Jade gently pushed his glasses up. "And, to answer your other question, I only have two spells equipped at the moment, not to mention my idea for one that slows the aging process, but I haven't even started thinking about that one yet."

He received shocked looks from all present.

"Whoa! Jade! Send a little of that my way!" Peony laughed.

"I said I haven't even--"

"Don't be so modest, Jade!" the carefree emperor scolded his friend. "We all know 'I haven't even started thinking about it' means 'give me one more day' in Jade-speak."

"'Jade-speak'?"

"Yeah, you've developed your own little language, there," Peony observed. "You know, 'I can't say until I'm sure' means 'You're doomed, pal' and--"

"Your Majesty,_ please_," Jade coughed lightly into his fist. "May we _stay on subject?_"

"Oh, right, right," Peony sat up straight in his gaudy chair. "Is there anything else, Guy?"

"Here's a copy of the blueprints," Guy handed him several folded pages. "You may use them to make as many as you need."

"Thanks, Guy, I'll get an assembly line set up as soon as possible."

"You're welcome, Your Majesty. We'll take our leave now, if you'll excuse us."

"Sure, just remember to come visit every once and a while, okay?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," Jade crooned. "We never tire of your company."

* * *

Cantabile left the ship for a while. They were only stopping at Kaitzur Naval Port because some passengers were getting off, some were getting on, and those that weren't just needed a break. So here she was. 

Geologically, it would have made more sense to stop in Chesedonia first, but when ships like this one made port twice, it would go wherever more people were headed first. In this case, Kaitzur, but she didn't mind too much; just being out of Malkuth was enough to please her for the time being. Besides, maybe she could do some shopping, as her supplies were running low. Chesedonia's prices weren't the best, for that matter.

The Kimlascan troops paid her no heed, but she decided to leave her eye patch off, just in case Malkuth requested their aid in looking out for her in the near future. Every little thing she could do to avoid detection would--

"Are you the Fon Master?" a woman's voice came from behind her. Cantabile spun to face her. The woman's clothing was completely impractical and absurd, as was that of the two men that followed her. Oh great. A gypsy, a pirate, and a leprechaun. What the hell did these weirdos want?

"Maybe. Who sent you?" she questioned the trio cautiously.

"Some dragqueen by the name of Dist," The woman appeared to be the spokesperson for their group. "He hired us to search for you, you know."

"Well, then who the hell are you?"

"I'm Noir, this is Urushi,"--she pointed to the short bearded man--"and this is York." Noir motioned to the pirate. "We are the Dark Wings, a band of noble thieves, stealing from everyone and giving to ourselves. But for now, we're working for Dist honestly."

"Sounds like the kind of people he'd hire," Cantabile said thoughtfully. "What does Dist want?"

"He wants you to return to Daath as soon as you can," Noir fiddled with some kind of little castanet; Cantabile didn't really care, so she examined it no further. "He wouldn't give us any more information."

"Arg, what could that fool be up to?" Cantabile scowled to herself. "Well, let him know I won't be back for a little while. I have urgent business to take care of elsewhere."

"Just where are you headed?" Noir pressed. The more information she had for Dist, the more pay she'd receive.

"Chesedonia," she replied. Well, it wasn't a lie, but she knew she would be long gone by the time Dist even got word that she would be there.

"Right, right," Noir decided she didn't want to risk angering the young Fon Master; she did not look like one who would hesitate to use her blade if need be. "We'll tell him, but he may not be happy."

"Leave me alone all ready! You're acting like_ I _was the one asking you to talk to Dist!" Cantabile was quickly growing impatient with these morons.

"Of course, Fon Master," Noir said quickly. "We'll be going, now."

Cantabile growled to herself as the awkwardly-dressed trio retreated. This was the last thing she needed to deal with! She just had to make sure Dist didn't catch up to her; he wouldn't leave her be no matter how hard she tried. Oh, well, maybe she would find reason to send Dist off to Grand Chokmah; she was sure her _friends_ would have much to talk about with him. Especially Jade.

The guard near the dock was calling for everyone to come back aboard the ship. Damn those stupid circus people! Now she would have to do her shopping in Chesedonia, where the prices were sky-high due to all the taxing they went through just to get there. Oh well; it could be worse. It could be much worse.

* * *

"And so the chase begins," Jade said animatedly. "Hurry, children, or we'll miss the boat." 

"We're twenty minutes early, Jade," Guy locked the door to his house as they left to board yet _another_ ferry.

"It never hurts to be a bit early," It was obvious Jade was plotting something, but they had no chance of figuring it out until he either put it into action or told them about it.

"He's right. We have to catch up to Cantabile and get the Key of Lorelei back," Luke declared to no one in particular.

"Now that sounds more like the Luke I know," Jade clapped his hand on Luke's shoulder vivaciously. "Stating the obvious, as usual"

"The Luke you know, huh?" Luke grumbled, shoving Jade's hand off.

"But of course, Asch would never say such a stupid thing,"

"Um, Jade..." Luke ignored Jade's sarcasm long enough to ask him a question. "Is there any way we can, you know, get Asch back?"

"Hmmm..." Jade hummed, deciding whether to tell Luke of his idea. If he said it not quite right, Luke would keep bugging him about it, but maybe he would have the sense to keep his mouth shut about it now. "I might tell you, but it depends on how you'd handle it."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"It means I will tell you if you can promise not to do something idiotic like at the Tower of Rem. I gave you a theory and you ran off with it, ultimately dooming yourself and killing thousands."

Luke was silent; he'd never wanted to be reminded of his foolish act to destroy the miasma at all costs.

"But of course you're a big boy, now, aren't you?"

"Just shut up and tell me!"

"You mustn't talk back to your elders and betters, young man," Jade jokingly fussed over him.

"Fine. I promise I won't let it get out of hand," Luke gave in. This information was worth more than his dignity.

"If, say, Asch's memories _are_ the Key of Lorelei, then it may be possible in theory to create a replica and use the Key to restore his memories..."

"Are you serious?!"

"It was merely a thought; a minuscule amount of reasoning has been applied to it. I will work out the details later and inform you of any progress I have made."

"Okay," Luke nodded, determined not to disappoint the colonel.

"But please don't tell the others," Luke followed Jade's gaze to where the others had left them behind. "Especially Natalia."

"Jade...thanks for telling me," Luke glowed under the fact that he had given in so easily. Jade must really trust him now.

As much as he hated to admit it, Jade was growing rather fond of his charges. What _had_ he gotten himself into? One moment he was defending them from a particularly ill-tempered liger queen, and now he was divulging secrets he wished could have stayed secrets. But Luke was trustworthy, even if he was a bit slow otherwise. The oaf couldn't even see his own blind love for Tear, despite her having confessed hers to him all ready. Maybe he was just shy. But despite all that, he was_ trustworthy_.

He hoped.

* * *

Cantabile _hated _Chesedonia. It was sweltering hot by first light and a bone-chilling cold once it got dark. Sand was everywhere: in her clothes, her hair, and her eyes if she wasn't careful. She estimated every breath she took was contaminated with a half a pound of the wretched stuff. It was noisy; the merchants and peddlers had way too much energy to sit out there all day, ringing bells and screeching at unwary passers by about their goods. Not to mention it was the home of some of the creepiest people she'd ever met, Dist included. The Ant Lion Man who hid behind the inn always demanded items of her, but she never obliged, of course. That freak could go find other people to annoy; she had better things to do. And then there was Astor. That guy's laugh was as unnerving, if not more so, than Dist's, and that was enough to repel Cantabile for the most part. 

But now, she had no choice. She would have to travel through the city, cross the border to Kimlasca, and find another ship. Hopefully she could get to Yulia City from here.

"Fon Master, it's good to see you."

Cantabile slapped her palm to her forehead. It was Astor. Was it just her, or was everyone on Auldrant conspiring to make her life horrible?!

"It's good to see you too, Astor," she lied, turning to face him.

"Of _course,_ Fon Master. Heeheeheeheehee."

"Why are you out wandering the streets?"

"Some of my men reported seeing you, so I thought I'd come to get you personally. It's so nice you've come so quickly."

"Come?" Cantabile was led against her will back to Astor's mansion, which was situated right on the border line.

"Didn't you come by my request to discuss the issues of the new tax laws the Order of Lorelei has set down for autonomous states? I'm thrilled you've come so soon; I only sent the letter yesterday."

Well, wasn't this just _dandy_. Of all the coincidences to happen just _now_, it had to be one that forced her to sit in a room with the crazy old geezer talking about taxes. Maybe for the trouble, she'd raise the taxes in Chesedonia. A little extra income never hurt anyone. And _so help him_ if this setback made her miss a ship to Yulia City or gave Dist or Jade the time to catch up to her. He'd be worried about more than a fifty percent tax raise for The Distribution Base then.

_So help the bastard_.


	9. Dealing with idiots

"So Jade," Luke followed the colonel and the rest of the group as they disembarked at Kaitzur for a break while the ship loaded some more passengers. "why couldn't we just take the Albiore?"

"It seems Noelle is in Keterburg at the moment," Jade adjusted his glasses knowingly. "She'd be gone by the time a letter reached her."

"Oh," Luke glanced down at the concrete ground. "Why's she in Keterburg?"

"How should I know? It's none of my business," Jade's voice took on a mocking tone. "And gentlemen don't pry."

Luke decided to leave it at that; Jade was trying to tell him to shut up in his subtle way. He still wondered how Jade knew she would be in Keterburg by now anyway. Maybe it had something to do with his plan. Jade always had a plan, and he may have been carrying it out right under their noses and they wouldn't see it until he had Cantabile under lock and key, which he would soon, no doubt.

The group walked off to the side a bit before forming a circle and discussing their next move.

"What's the plan after getting to Chesedonia?" Tear asked Jade, as he was now leading the operation, though no one really noticed or minded, for that matter.

"We follow Cantabile," he said simply.

"I _know_ we're following Cantabile,"

"Then why ask?" Jade shrugged indifferently.

"Colonel, would you please just tell us what it is you're up to?" Natalia tried her luck with the difficult colonel.

"Yeah! You told Luke something, and if he deserves to know, then we do, too!" Anise put her hands on her hips.

"What I told Luke had nothing to do with our current need to catch Cantabile," Jade gave them the minimal amount of information while still technically answering their questions.

"It's not like you to trust Luke with something before trusting the rest of us with it."

"Hey!"

"I'm surprised you caught that, Luke," Jade sneered joyfully. "But I'm glad Asch did."

"Okay, would you stop doing that?!" Luke folded his arms. "It's bad enough you never stop making fun of me, but do you have to mention Asch _every_ time I say something?!"

"Every time you say something intelligent," Jade continued to keep Luke at the tip of the sword of his contempt.

"Yes, Colonel, please..." Natalia added, her hands held up to her chin daintily.

"Oh, look, it's time to get back on the ship. We'll have to carry our conversation inside, children," Jade began walking back to the ship, threatening to leave them behind.

"Seriously, where does that guy pull those kinds of lines from?" Guy reluctantly trailed behind the colonel with the rest of his companions.

"I don't think I want to know any more than I do about him, anyway," Luke shuddered.

"Yeah, he can be pretty creepy sometimes," Anise agreed with Luke. "but he can be fun sometimes, too."

"Only for you, it seems," Tear observed. "He likes to amuse you at our expense, doesn't he?"

"He's a valuable weapon," Anise bounced her eyebrows slyly at the others. "You know... 'Stay back! I've got the Colonel!'"

Luke, Tear, Guy, and Natalia recoiled slightly at her statement. Surely she was joking?...

"'Sic 'em, Colonel...'" Anise muttered to them. _Surely_, right? Anise could seem as demented as Jade sometimes. Maybe that was Jade's fault himself by making all but Anise keep at a distance. Luke resolved not to think about it anymore; he would prefer not to get between Jade and Anise, no matter how strange their companionship may be.

* * *

By the time Cantabile was given the one beautiful opportunity to get herself away from Astor and his tax issues, the ferries had stopped running and she was forced to find an inn for the night. She didn't bother asking whether any ships had gone out to Yulia City today; all that would be useful for is to keep in mind while she was getting her revenge on Astor. Though they had settled on a tax raise, it was only up by thirty percent, which was far too high, but Cantabile didn't really care how unpopular this would make Chesedonia as a marketplace. It was still too low in her opinion, or maybe for her purposes, and she would have greater revenge at another time. For now, Astor was not her main problem, so it could wait.

She booked a room at the Malkuth-side inn, wanting to escape the desert night as soon as she could. Like most deserts, Chesedonia's daily temperatures fluctuated wildly, ranging from a heat index of over one hundred ten on good days and about sixty degrees—just cold enough to bother her—during the night. How anyone could bear to live here was anyone's guess; she wouldn't stay here longer than two days for any amount of gald.

She acted out the usual practice of inquiring about room, paying for the night, taking the key, and finally locating her room on the second floor. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable about Chesedonia as far as she was concerned. Not only was the place suffocated with _idiots_, its place on the border line made it that much more popular for idiots of both nationalities to swarm. And there was nothing Cantabile hated more than dealing with idiots.

It's such a shame being the Fon Master was such a sociable job. It forced her all over the world, going to one meeting or another concerning legal issues, law, public social activity or something else on another equally boring topic, but at least she had power. Political power was nothing to discount; she was head of the_ Order_ of_ Lorelei_, the religion that controlled the world. Maybe she could further her control by using something else, as well. Something like the masses of replicas wandering between the towns and cities or perhaps even a new Score, her own Score that she could persuade the people to follow. Oh well, those kind of things were not her place to think of now; but one thing was certain: she _hated_ dealing with idiots almost as much as she _hated_ Chesedonia. Maybe a even a little more.

The room she'd taken was one of the higher-quality ones; she could spend the Order's money however she pleased, and for now, she did everything she could to make her stay here a bit more bearable.

After a much-needed shower, she settled herself for bed, thinking of her past again. She thought about her current dilemma of getting to Yulia City. The Malkuthian army was looking for her at the least, but word hadn't made its way all the way here just yet, and the Oracle Knights may be after her as well. She cursed herself mentally, remembering what she'd done to worsen her situation...

_"Anise Tatlin, correct?" the new Fon Master glanced up from the list of current positions within the Order that needed to be filled._

_"Yep, that's me!" the far-too-cheery girl spoke casually to her boss._

_"Please don't say things like that in the presence of your employer, little girl," Cantabile scowled. She was all ready sick of the kid, and they'd only been here a grand total of five and a half minutes._

_"Fine. You're no fun,"_

_"My job is overseeing the Order, not entertaining little brats like you,"_

_"You!--"_

_"Okay, so you're _definitely_ no longer a Fon Master Guardian, that's what I'm thinking," Cantabile ignored Anise and scanned the roster even further. "I'd go nuts if I had you following me everywhere. Nope, that won't do." She drew a line through Anise's name under the Fon Master Guardian section._

_"Hey!" Anise whined._

_"Oh, shut it," Cantabile blew her off. "It looks like nearly all the positions for God-Generals are empty. How's that?"_

_"Anything you say, Your Highness," Anise grumbled unhappily._

_"God-General it is, then." Cantabile scribbled in Anise's name on the line for Commander of the First Division. "And you might get to be Adjutant Commandant of you ask real nice."_

_"I'm fine with the First Division," Anise turned to leave, and, when she was out of earshot, mumbled to herself. "As long as I'm not your Guardian, ya stupid prissy chick."_

_Well, that went relatively well, Cantabile thought. God-Generals rarely had to receive orders from Fon Masters; there was the Commandant, Tear, to give orders, not to mention the Grand Maestro between them as well. And since the Grand Maestro held Cantabile in high regards, it was easy to order him around._

_She continued examining the list. Someone would have to become her Guardian. Who could she stand to have with her all the time?..._

Ah, that's it. _That helpless Florian kid. He didn't know Guardians were supposed to always accompany Fon Masters, much less anything else useful, and she'd keep it that way. _Don't have to bother asking him, even._ He'd do anything anyone told him to, and that was just the kind of person she needed. _Let the little fool think he's useful. It's not like I care either way.

Yes, certainly she and Tear had soldiers ready and searching for her. Kimlascan soldiers were the only ones she could trust. If they didn't...

She shook her head. She_ hated _dealing with idiots.

* * *

Cantabile either had godly luck or the planets were aligned or _something_, but there was a boat leaving for Yulia City that morning.

Words could not express her relief. She snatched the ticket from the vendor and thanked him vigorously, but he only gave a meek "you're welcome" in reply. Who was this mad woman, anyway?

Cantabile waited inside the inn until the ship was ready to depart (she didn't even _try_ to stay outside that long). Then, just as instantly as it had happened, the cosmos shifted, and Dist hovered through the door. Cantabile refrained from groaning at the sight in hopes that he would pass her up and ask the receptionist about the whereabouts of a certain Fon Master, but alas, the damned idiot spotted her and floated over.

"Fon Master, just where have you been? I've been looking for you--"

Cantabile really didn't feel like communicating with Dist, even if that meant insulting him, so she just swept past him and out the door. Her ship was leaving; if he couldn't catch up it was _his_ problem.

"Fon Master! Come back!" The pitiful man was left alone in the hotel. "Don't make me put you in my revenge journal again!"

* * *

"Chesedonia..." Luke glanced around the city.

"Luke, I thought I told you to stop stating the obvious," Jade walked past where Luke had halted his steady pace.

"You know what? I'm not even going to bother defending myself," Luke folded his arms, but followed the colonel anyway.

"I guess I'd be the bad guy if I mentioned Asch again, now wouldn't I?..." Jade muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

Luke gave him an aggravated sigh and pressed on, staying closer to Tear and Guy. Jade glanced after him and raised an eyebrow.

"Odd," he whispered to himself. "That didn't go very well..."

"So we're supposed to catch up to Cantabile here, huh?" Guy tried to start a conversation as they headed to the Kimlasca-side port. "What's she doing in Chesedonia?"

"She won't be here long," Jade said placidly. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if her ship was just leaving."

"Oh, come _on_, be serious for a change!"

"I'm always serious, mind you, but according to this schedule..."--he took one of the papers a guard was offering to the people who were just leaving the ship-- "that ship is headed to Yulia City."

"Don't tell me," Tear turned to Jade, her hand covering half her face in distress. "she was going to Yulia City, and you knew it, and you stalled us for whatever twisted reason you could think of?"

"I have a very good reason for forcing her to Yulia City," Jade nodded knowingly. "As I had a good reason for giving her the Key of Lorelei."

"Will you please tell us, Jade?" Natalia was growing tired of Jade's keeping secrets from them. "We're your _friends_. Can you not tell us?"

"I really don't feel like explaining, but I guess if I don't tell Natalia sooner or later she'll lose her temper in public," Jade shook his head, sighing. "I'll tell you when we get to the inn."

* * *

All six gathered in Jade's room at the inn. He reluctantly told them of his plan. Long explanations were _so_ tiring for a man of his age.

"I've told Noelle to meet us at Yulia City. Cantabile will have nowhere to run if we close off the dock area."

"I see. That makes sense," Tear commented. Luke scowled; if he'd said that, Jade would have been on him in an instant.

"And," Jade continued, his grin growing ever wider. "I think you'll be quite pleased to see this." He dug through his personal traveling bag and pulled out a long package that was loosely wrapped in brown cloth. He unwound the cloth to reveal--

"The Key of Lorelei?!" they gasped.

"But I thought you said you gave Cantabile--"

"It was a replica," Jade's eyes reflected his glee at having them worry over nothing. "I made a replica of it while I was in Belkend with Luke. It was good enough to satisfy her, so off she runs with a false Key, never giving a further thought as to how I might have tricked her."

"Jade, I don't think anyone could ever realize you're tricking them until it's too late," Luke touched his weapon fondly, murmuring to himself. "Asch... I'm glad you're safe."

"But can Cantabile still summon Lorelei with a replica?" Natalia wondered out loud.

"No, she can't," Jade's expression suddenly grew gloomy. "but if she learns the Second Hymn, she can summon if she gets close to the sword. We'll have to get close if we are to kill her."

"Colonel! We're going to kill her?" Anise was astounded.

"And she doesn't know the Second Hymn..." Tear traced a gloved finger down her jawline. "She's going there to find books on it, isn't she?"

"Yes," Jade looked back up happily. "Making her think she had the Key, therefore forcing her to Yulia City, was the easiest way to trap her."

"Jade...I'm glad you're on our side," Guy confessed rather spontaneously. "You're already three steps ahead of Cantabile and she doesn't suspect a thing."

"See how good it is to be an old man? I'm so wise in my old age, I don't need the Score to tell me the future!"

The other five gave him strange looks of fear. You never could tell with Jade.

* * *

Luke had trouble sleeping that night. He rolled over and over in his bed, but he just couldn't get comfortable enough to induce sleep. After an hour or so, he gave up and decided to go for a walk around the city. He grabbed an extra coat; Chesedonia was wickedly cold at night, despite being a desert.

He walked slowly, not really sure where he was going, but was eventually drawn to the dock area, as that was where he usually went on midnight strolls. He thought about what Jade had told him about Asch. Could he really be brought back? Would he go back to being stupid old Luke? He didn't know what to make of that. It was a strange problem, if anything.

But he'd promised Jade he wouldn't do anything rash. If he screwed this up, Jade would never believe anything he said again. And that was not an exaggeration; the colonel had an extraordinary way of keeping records about everyone he knew carefully documented in his mind. Though he wouldn't dare even _think_ of it with the colonel around, he enjoyed the thought that this was similar to Dist and his revenge journal.

And speak of the devil, if the bastard didn't just appear behind Luke.

Luke was caught off guard, as the eerie armchair and its owner made no noise as they hovered over to him. Luke reached for his weapon, but he had foolishly left it at the inn.

"What do you want?" Luke snarled aggressively at the scientist.

"I was just coming to contemplate how I was going to get my revenge on Cantabile," Dist grumbled.

"You didn't come here to fight me?" Luke relaxed and let the fonons he'd been preparing for a fonic arte disperse. "What are you doing, then?"

"I couldn't sleep," He droned. "It's horrible; I need my beauty sleep!"

"Oh, I'm sure," Luke laughed, no longer sensing any danger from the eccentric man.

"Don't make fun of me!"

"I didn't mean to," Luke gazed out across the see at the Ispanian Peninsula's blurry smudge on the horizon. "It's just odd that you're not plotting something."

"I'm not worried about you kids right now!" Dist pouted indignantly. "I'm searching for the Fon Master, but she'd gone off to Yulia City and the last tickets were bought out earlier for the next ferry."

"They were?!"

"Yes, I'm stranded here between a crazy wiggly man in a huge brown suit and one with atrocious facial hair," Dist turned to Luke, making sure he was still listening. "And not to mention you six."

"Oh, we mean you no harm, if just for now," Luke couldn't help a grin.

"I remember what you did to me on the ferry! Don't worry, you _and_ Jade are in big trouble!"

"I'm terrified."

"You should be!" Dist hmmphed into his folded arms.

"Well, thanks for the information. I'll be heading back now," Luke stood from where he had been dangling his legs off the cement edge of the dock and brushed off his coat.

"Thanks?! I have no intention of help--" Dist ceased his rant when he noticed Luke was gone and the night air gave no response. "Another for the journal, that is..."

* * *

Luke had no more luck falling asleep than he did before his walk. His mind kept wandering over how he could possible revive Asch. He would have to sacrifice the Key of Lorelei, but that was nothing to have his friend back. As much as Asch had denied it, they _were_ friends, whether he liked it or not.

_Whether I like it or not, huh?_

Oh, Asch. You heard all that?

_Stupid dreck, of course I did._

You want to come back, don't you? Luke knew it wouldn't be long before Asch contacted him again; it had been almost every night since their return to Belkend he'd heard his voice again.

_I guess so. For Natalia._

Not for me or anyone else, huh?

The connection had broken. Luke could no longer feel the glaring presence of Asch's consciousness in the back of his mind any more. Why couldn't he just accept him, give in, and be _nice_? Luke knew he _could_. He certainly seemed calmer around Natalia, if he also acted that mush nastier toward Luke at the same time. Maybe one day, if Jade's plan _did_ work, he could be a bit nicer to him. Asch was just so _difficult_.

Jade could hear a rustling sound coming from the next bed over. Of course Luke couldn't sleep; it was all his fault for giving the boy such vague ideas so recklessly. He rolled over and Luke found himself eye to eye with the Necromancer.

"Luke, what did I tell you?"

"I'm sorry, Jade, I just..."

"It's all right," the impish colonel shifted his pillows around a bit. "I never said you couldn't think about it. Just remember not to do anything or tell anyone."

"I know... I just miss him so much..."

"You still hear him, don't you?" Jade was a veritable mind-reader.

"Yeah," Luke sighed, flipping on his back, his arms folded behind his head.

"But it doesn't hurt, does it? No headaches?"

"No," Luke paused, his eyes counting out every detail of the ceiling. "He misses Natalia."

"I'm sure he wants his body back, huh?" Jade whispered back to the redhead.

"I guess so."

"I may be able to help him," Jade rolled on his stomach, the pillows between his arms and chin. "Maybe this is the start of a long list of good things we can do with fomicry."

"You did say you were going to raise the status of replicas, didn't you?"

"I've had so many things to think about, it hasn't been top priority, but yes, I did."

"I hope you can, Jade. When things settle down, I'll stay in Grand Chokmah to help you."

"Coming out of your shell now, I see?"

"I have to make up for the two years I've been gone," he said resolutely. "I have to help you. Any way I can, I'll try to help."

"Excellent," Jade smiled a little too cheerfully.

"Um..." Luke just left him alone, his mind all ready at work imagining the horrible things Jade would inflict upon him, holding him to his promise...

_"It won't hurt a bit, Luke, just close your eyes..."_

_"Jade...Jade?! What's that needle for!?"_

_"Would you rather take the medicine by mouth?"_

_"What is it?"_

_"Hmmm... I'm not quite sure. I accidentally mixed up some of the chemicals I had been using."_

_"J-Jade?!"_

_"Now, which one could this be?..."_


	10. Let us begin

Well, here's chapter 10. I'm not really fond of writing pre-chapter notes, but I just thought I had to cuz...I dunno...it's chapter 10 of my first fanfic. This has to be the best one so far, IMO. It was really fun to write, which is why I got it completed so fast. For those of you who read my profile, this is a bit like what _Ragnarok_ will be like. I can't wait to write that one, but I will finish this story first. Enjoy, and thanks to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate it so much!

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Cantabile left the makeshift floating port that had been installed to allow travel to and from Yulia City. When it was in the Qliphoth and the Outer Lands high above, there was no need for a dock, as there was nowhere to go. Because of the addition, the town had less people in the unsettling garb of the natives that made it impossible to distinguish gender and more "normal" people from other towns.

She headed down the walkway that led to the main building of the city. If she started now, she might make it by nightfall. Really, was it _necessary_ for it to be so long? It's not even like they had to make a grand entrance for all the visitors they had. Sure, Baticul had a bridge kind of like this one, but it at least was practical; there was a yawning chasm directly below. Besides, hardly anyone went that way; the only thing back there was a path to the Zao Desert and one to Inista Marsh, neither of which were even the slightest bit enjoyable. She had never even been to Inista Marsh (or the Zao Desert, for that matter, but she counted Chesedonia), but she'd heard the most undesirable rumors of that place. It was near impossible to walk, the monsters there could poison you, and, if you had the chance to meet up with the Behemoth, it could eat you. Indeed, it was not the place for Fon Masters.

Yulia City itself wasn't the greatest place in the world, either, but it wasn't the worst. The holographic barriers that served as doors to keep miasma out of the buildings were kind of creepy, in Cantabile's opinion. She got a mild shock every time she passed through, but the others seemed to be used to it. Or maybe that's why they wear those freaky robes. She wondered what they were made of; they had to be rather warm, as the Outer Lands had blocked out all sunlight, and there was no telling how cold it got down there. These people may consider the robes to be some kind of traditional dress, and they wouldn't suddenly stop wearing them just because the Outer Lands just plopped down around them and put them on the equator, now would they? Or maybe the miasma and mud that once surrounded the city could generate heat or something...

She shook her head. Who cares? There's no point in worrying about it. Now she had a mission: find a book on Yulia's fonic hymns and learn the Second Hymn. If she could summon Lorelei, no one in the world could oppose her; she'd never be overshadowed again.

But she had to move quickly; if Jade and his band of kids caught up to her while she was here, she'd be trapped. Yulia City was a dangerous place to go when fleeing, as it was an island and they could easily secure the port area to prevent her escape.

She didn't feel like dealing with Teodoro for the time being, so she went straight for the jugular—she forced her way into his house. Cantabile had a way with locks. Nothing could hold her in or out for very long. She went to the library she knew was in the back. She'd been here a few times before, and the familiarity gave her a bit of an advantage.

Cantabile brushed the decades of dust from the spines of the books and read each one in turn, desperately searching for one on hymns. Most were in Ancient Ispanian, so it took a little longer than expected to read the titles. She quickly grew frustrated, as none seemed to be of any interest. She pulled a tattered piece of paper from between two books and glanced over it just in case. Ah, here we are: the symbols of the first two hymns. Tear must have been researching them and these were her notes. That would do for now. She memorized the symbol; being it only the Second, it was not too difficult. And the lyrics were here, too. Wonderful.

She recited them to herself a few times, then sang it between the First and Third hymns until it sounded right. She folded the yellowed paper and stuffed it into her pocket, next to her eye patch. She locked the door behind her, making sure it looked no different than she left it. Carefully, she inched her way back out, making sure it had all gone unnoticed. She relaxed, casually leaving the house behind her. She rounded the gentle curve that led back to the main building when--

"Fancy seeing you here," Jade's sentence seemed snide enough, but his voice was hard and serious. "We've been waiting for you."

Cantabile was trapped between a crime scene and a group of five kids and a colonel. There was nowhere to run. Her lucky streak had run out. They glared at her, knowing everything she had just done inside Tear's house. Damn that Necromancer!

"You want to fight me?" she tensed her body, whipping her coat out of the way and pulling out her one-edged sword.

"We didn't come to fight," Guy told her angrily. "We came to kill you and be done with it."

"Yes, we can't have you summoning Lorelei," Natalia added simply.

"It takes time to learn the hymns," Tear produced her own weapon, a burgundy rod topped with a sparkling blue gem and gold spikes. "You're too twisted to sing with the soul of Yulia."

"I never thought I'd have to fight the Fon Master," Anise muttered, instinctively pulling Tokunaga from her back. "You can't do this. I won't let you."

"Fine. If you insist on fighting me, I won't stop you," she tightened the grip on her blade, shifting into a fighting stance. "But I won't show you any mercy when you're bleeding to death at my feet."

"I don't expect mercy," Jade fixed his glasses, readying for the fight himself. "I've shown no mercy to my enemies so far, and I won't start now!"

"That's fine with me," her eyes flashed in the dim glow of the fonic glyphs carved into columns along the path. She loosed a burst of power that knocked the group back several feet, onto the walkway. "Let us begin,"

Jade and Tear held back to cast while Guy and Anise took the front lines. Natalia tried to get behind her, but Cantabile spun, sensing her approach. She slammed her hand to the ground; a shining circle of light appeared underneath her. Natalia froze, the fonic energy restricting her movement.

"_Akashic Torment!_"

Light exploded underneath them, instantly throwing Natalia against one of the pillars. She had no strength left to heal herself, but Tear came to the rescue.

"First Aid!"

"Heh," Cantabile dodged around Guy's sword and the bulky doll that came at her. "You still use weak artes like First Aid?"

Tear ignored her taunts. If she fell for it, it would only give Cantabile an edge.

"_Blessed Drops!_"

Again, she skipped around the assault, halting Guy's sword with her own.

"White Tiger Strike!"

She countered his attack efficiently.

"Phantom Blade!" Guy slid back under the pressure, panting.

"What kind of attack is that?! I've never seen a fighting style like that before!"

Anise came at her next. Tokunaga was a huge target, at least, and his girth didn't improve his speed.

"Cyclone Shot!"

Cantabile backstepped, and the doll shot above her, completely missing its target. Anise and Guy now had her surrounded. They lunged in to strike her simultaneously, but Cantabile executed a smooth double parry, drawing her replica Key of Lorelei into battle.

"_Ground Dasher!_"

She barely had time to break the parries, rolling out of range as fangs of stone tore up at her. She faced the party, still able and not even tired yet.

"How can we win if she just dodges our attacks?!" Anise called out to the colonel.

"Corner her and let me hit her with a fonic arte!"

"Right!" Guy closed in, his sword and sheath ready.

"Fool!" Cantabile blocked again. "I know the Albert style, you can't catch me off guard!"

"Then take this!" Anise bounded up on her gargantuan doll, its fists raised. "_Shadow Tempest!_"

"_Beast!_"

"_Infernal Prison!_"

"_Tiger Tempest!_" Cantabile swung around, causing Guy and Anise to lose their balance, then tossed her sword into the air, catching it after it inflicted several wounds to Guy's face. She landed gracefully, behind the two melee fighters and far from the rush of flames that Jade conjured.

"Damn!" the Necromancer left off his spell, as Cantabile was heading for him, her sword singing the dirge of battle.

"_Sword Rain Omega!_"

Jade couldn't prevent her from inflicting multiple trust wounds to his torso, and just when he thought she was done, her attack picked up, faster than before.

"Jade!" Tear cried out to him. She held her position, however, summoning Seventh Fonons.

Cantabile silently cursed herself for not taking out Tear first. Always go for the spine of the party, the healer, first. But she got Natalia out pretty early, and that was good.

But there was no time to regret her actions, as Guy was back, charging for her once again.

"Tempest!"

Oh, but isn't that a favorite trick?

"_Shining Storm Rising!_"

Guy was caught up in the steel torrent as he landed. Her weapon slashed through his skin and clothes several more times, but not severely enough to put him out of commission.

"_O hellion whose roar chills the very soul, resound!_"

Damn them! Five on one was _not _exactly the easiest way to fight!

"_Bloody Howling!_"

Cantabile managed to avoid the spell. She took this opportunity to take down Tear. Once the healer was gone, it would be much easier.

"_Resurrection!_"

"Thanks, Tear," Jade heaved himself up, still bleeding excessively.

"Damn you!--" Cantabile hissed, far out of range for most attacks. "_Twin Demon Fang!_" Tear didn't expect Cantabile to target her, so her second spell was cut short, and she was buffeted by the dual shockwaves.

"Storm Edge!" Cantabile jerked out of the way of the three arrows that came at her from behind. Natalia had healed herself enough to get back in on the action.

"Forgot about me?"

"Of course not, princess, you deserve special attention," Cantabile swiftly tossed one of her daggers at the archer, but it went almost unnoticed as she immediately defended Guy's latest barrage.

"_Severing Wind!_" he pulled off a mighty jump, spinning his blade around. "Blade reveal your fury! _Dragon Tempest!_" Cantabile paused, leaving herself open to be caught in the swirl of Third Fonons.

She was still standing after Guy completed his combo, but her sword was held in a parry. He fell for her trick, and as soon as he tried to break her guard, she unleashed her compound arte.

"_Cold Blood Rush!_" Guy winced as her blade sliced his flesh again and again, in insane swirling patterns he couldn't even begin to follow. He collapsed to the ground, dizzy from blood loss.

"Guy?!" Tear shouted, instantly halting her Eclair de Larmes. "What's wrong with him?!"

"It looks like poison," Jade flicked off an Energy Blast, but Cantabile didn't have any trouble sidestepping out of it. "I've never heard of a strike arte that can cause poison!"

"Natalia! Guy's been--" Tear cut her plea to the only one of their party capable of healing poison short when she noticed the princess had taken the dagger to her upper arm and was unconscious due to the rapid rate at which she was losing blood. "Natalia!" Tear made as if to run to her, but Cantabile stopped her, keeping her at bay with the tip of her keen sword.

"Now, now, Tear, we don't want a Seventh Fonist like you healing her--"

"_Rock Mountain!_"

"What the?!"

Cantabile ducked out of the way as four sizable boulders tumbled from thin air where she had just been standing.

"You!" She turned now to Anise, who was all ready scrambling to cast another fonic arte before the Fon Master could reach her. She was too late, as Cantabile was incredibly agile.

"New Moon Blade!"

Cantabile thrust her sword through Tokunaga, knocking Anise to the ground.

"Ram Strike!"

Anise was helpless as she tried to fend off the spinning blade with her staff. As Cantabile swung back for another powerful slash, something caught her eye.

"_I who stand in full light of the heavens..._"

Cantabile's eyes widened with fear at what Jade was about to do. She knew there would be no running from him now. She braced herself as much as she could.

"_...command thee, who opens the gates of Hell..._"

Jade focused solely on his target as he continued to charge his spell. There was no way she could survive this.

"C_ome forth, divine lightning! This ends now!_"

Cantabile was caught in the eye of a hurricane. Cobalt clouds raced around her, and above, electricity sparked madly, too eager to follow the bridge of light to the glyph down below.

"_**INDIGNATION!**_"

She mumbled something that could not be heard above the roar of thunder. The last thing Cantabile saw was an enormous bolt of pure, writhing energy crash around her.

Jade fell to the ground, his health still critical.

"Did we kill her?"

"Jade! Don't move!" Tear turned her attention to the colonel, having healed Natalia a bit.

"Don't worry about me!" Jade commanded sharply. "Go see if we killed her."

As much as Tear wanted to pin him down and heal his wounds, she knew better. Reluctantly, she stepped over to where Cantabile's charred body lay. She tore off the long sleeve of Cantabile's jacket and checked for a pulse. She thought she felt the slightest flutter of a heartbeat, but after confirming it was only her own racing heart, she returned to Jade.

"She's dead."

"Good," Jade grunted, coughing up blood. "Are the others okay?"

Tear suffered the least injuries of anyone, so it was her grim duty to make sure the others were alive as well.

"Guy's alive," she reported to Jade, though she was not entirely sure he was listening. It was just comforting to say it out loud. "He's just been poisoned pretty badly, but it should be easy to cure once Natalia comes around." She walked farther back to Anise. "And Anise is fine,"

"Owww..." the God-General moaned, peeling back her clothes wherever it came in contact with an open cut.

"Tear!" Luke came running from where the Albiore was docked. "Is everyone okay? You need me to help?"

"Luke... yeah, get the Colonel to the city. Everyone got pretty banged up, but we're all alive."

"Right!" Luke found Jade collapsed on his side. He knelt down, forcing his hands under his body and lifted him slowly. "Is there an infirmary or anywhere I should bring him?"

"The infirmary isn't big enough for everyone, but they'll take in the most wounded for now. Head left past the meeting hall and you should see it soon."

"Got it," Luke carried the surprisingly light colonel inside as Tear went back to assisting the others.

"What happened?" Anise muttered, sounding drugged in her torpor.

"We've killed Cantabile," Tear did her level best not to excite her too much. "You got hurt, but not too badly, and you should rest a bit."

"Oh, okay. But how is everyone else?"

"They'll be fine, just go ask Noelle to get you a change of clothes. I'll be there shortly to dress your wounds."

Anise sat up, in much pain. She clutched her stomach, where the late Fon Master had left her a rather nasty slash.

"Can you walk?" Tear helped her to her feet.

"Yeah, I can make it," Anise limped off to the Albiore, mentally cursing the length of the path to the dock.

Tear set to work healing Guy while she waited for Luke to return. He seemed to be better off than Natalia. Though she had taken only a single dagger to the arm, Cantabile had an aim to rival the archer's herself, and it had lodged its barbed blade deep into her flesh. Tear could only hope it was not poisoned as well.

Guy groaned and stirred, finally coming to. He looked up at Tear for a minute before glancing down at her hand, which was resting on his chest as she healed him. His body went rigid, and he struggled to get away. Tear immediately removed her hand and stepped back. Guy relaxed and grinned up at her sheepishly.

"Sorry,"

"It's all right," she returned his smile. "How do you feel?"

"Ugh... like I want to throw up," he moaned again.

"That's the poison," Tear had to prevent herself from rushing to continue healing him. "I'll see if we can get some Panacea bottles. I'm sorry, but you'll have to hang on a little while longer."

"That's fine. What about Jade and Anise and Natalia?"

"Anise is in better condition than most of us, but Jade got hit pretty hard, then he had to go and use Indignation, so that didn't help his condition. Natalia is only unconscious, but she'll be fine."

"Oh, good," Guy let his head roll back so he was looking straight up.

"You think you can stand? There's no way I could carry you to the infirmary."

"No, no, I can walk," Guy insisted as he lifted his aching body from the gore-strewn battlefield.

"Okay, fine then, I'll go check on Natalia," Tear didn't offer to help him stand, as that would only make him break out in a cold sweat because of his phobia.

"Tear?"

"Oh, good, you're awake," Tear knelt by the princess. "I thought you were out."

"I can't move my arm,"

"What this one?" Tear pulled one of her knives out and cut away the sleeve so she could get a better look. She applied pressure to her wrist. "Can you feel my hand?"

"No..."

"The dagger may have damaged the nerve. Let's wait until we can have a doctor look at it before we do anything else,"

"That's fine, but..."

"They're all fine, don't worry."

"Thank you so much, Tear. You're always helping us so much."

"It's my job as a healer," Tear nodded to Natalia. "There's no need to thank me."

"Hey, Tear, I'm back. You need more help?"

"Oh, Luke," Tear stood up to speak to him. "If Guy needs help--"

"Tear, I said I can walk, I don't need any help," Guy leaned against a column near the rail of the path, barely ten feet from where he was a minute ago. "You help Natalia instead."

"Guy!" Luke caught him, as he looked like he was about to keel over in pain. "You're poisoned! How did you get poisoned?"

"She used some weird arte on me," Guy tried to shrug Luke off and stand by himself, but he promptly fell back on the rail, panting.

"Guy, come on, you don't know where the infirmary is anyway. I'll help you."

Tear focused on Natalia, knowing Luke would get Guy there safely, despite his protests.

"Don't try to move," she ordered. "And don't try to heal yourself. It'll only make it worse."

"I'm sorry, Tear," Natalia let the remaining fonons she was gathering slip away. "I have to do something or you'll wear yourself out."

"I'll be careful, Natalia."

"Shouldn't you check on Anise?"

"I don't want to leave you alone out here, even if Luke's coming back soon."

"Tear..."

"Don't talk," Tear whispered to the princess. "You don't have to do anything, we'll take care of you."

Natalia sighed as Tear went back to healing some of her more serious injuries. She wished she could help, too, but it would only exhaust her faster.

It wasn't long until Luke was back again.

"Hey, Tear. They're getting Guy an antidote as soon as they can. How's Natalia?"

"Better," Tear sat back, breathing heavily.

"Tear, stop it, you'll give yourself a headache," Luke said gently. He scooped up Natalia, who was even lighter than Jade, and started back down the path to the infirmary once again.

"I'll go see about Anise," she informed him.

"All right. I'll see you."

"Tear, I'm sorry..."

"Luke?"

"If I could've fought, too, maybe you guys wouldn't be so banged up..."

"Luke, it's not your fault. Besides, it was Jade who decided to keep you away from Cantabile. You can't say no to Jade."

"Yeah..."

"And plus I need you to help fix everyone up now more."

"Thanks, Tear."

She turned to head to the Albiore, blushing. Why did Luke always do that to her? He was nice to her, maybe _too_ nice, and he always made her blush.

She was too busy thinking about Luke to notice the movement behind her. Cantabile counted her breaths for a few minutes, making sure she was alive.

She was alive? How was that possible?

Her whole body screamed with searing burns. She tried desperately to remember what had happened. Jade...Jade had done this to her. She was too tired to even think about what she would do to him for revenge, so she gave up on that.

Why was she alive?

Then she remembered. She had come to Yulia City to learn the Second Hymn. They caught her as she left Tear's house, and then they fought. And Jade used his most powerful spell to finish her off.

She had learned the Second Hymn, and she never thought she'd be so glad to know a defensive spell. Yulia had saved her.

"Fon Master?" a sickening voice hailed her cautiously.

"Dist," she coughed, her throat ragged.

"You're alive?" Dist acted more appalled than relieved.

"Just take me...somewhere," Cantabile tried to tell him. "Take me to Daath."

"Yes, Fon Master!" Dist pulled her body onto his chair, grumbling about how he'd have to replace the cushions because of all the blood that was getting everywhere. But he didn't dare just leave her there; she was _Cantabile_, and she would probably find some way to torture him after she died if he did. Dist wasn't taking any chances.


	11. Aftermath

"I do apologize, Tear," Teodoro let his head droop as he addressed his granddaughter. "Your friend needs the care of a better doctor than what we can offer you."

"Where, exactly, should we bring him?"

"Daath would be best. I've heard they have specialists from Belkend there. You need to request they at least look at him."

"All right then. When would it be safe to leave?"

"It's been a day since the fight, so maybe another twenty-four hours will do, to be safe."

"Thank you, Grandfather," Tear left the meeting room to see how the others were doing. Jade seemed to be in the worst condition, though you would never know it by talking to him. He was the same as always, joking about how old he was getting and how he was bed-ridden and needed some youngsters to look after him so he didn't die in his sleep. He didn't seem to mind at all that he'd killed Cantabile, but then again, she'd never seen him express any remorse when it came to that matter. Could he really be that heartless?

Guy had recovered almost overnight and was perfectly fine aside from the cuts he was bound to pick up from everyday fights. The poison itself was nothing special; not very potent, but enough to ruin your day. The doctors had taken a blood sample to identify it and it turned out to be from some monster with a name longer than the dreaded walkway. The real puzzler was just how she'd poisoned him in the first place with a strike arte. Not even Jade knew of such a thing, but, though Jade knew many things, strike artes were not his strong point. They'd never know now, anyway, so there was no point in thinking about it.

Anise was worse than first thought, and she had been moved to the infirmary that night. Her body was a bit weaker than the others', as she never usually gets hurt in battles because of her safe perch atop Tokunaga. Her stomach wound was her worst, but it still wasn't anything fatal or even crippling, so she was well enough to be wandering about. She quickly grew bored of the drab city, and often would voice her thoughts (well in earshot of Luke) about how she so wished she could take a walk with a handsome man, but there weren't any willing or able to oblige, so maybe she'd just waste away to nothing staring out the window of the infirmary. She did this even more so when Tear was around, as it often made her mad enough to raise her voice, and Anise found that prospect highly amusing.

Natalia, however, was an entirely different case than anyone. Her body was fine with the exception of the knife, which the doctors had been hesitant to remove. They made her stay in bed so they could change her bandage often to assure it wouldn't get infected, as the wound was so deep it also needed stitches. The dagger itself was tested for poison, but that came up negative. Jade was able to identify its hilt to be one of the Royal Armory of Grand Chokmah's ceremonial daggers, so it was known that the tip wasn't barbed and would therefore cause no further damage by removal. It was also announced that a major nerve in Natalia's arm had been nearly severed, but the Seventh Fonists standing by were able to heal it sufficiently.

Jade himself, however joyous he seemed, was said to have suffered at least thirty-two stab wounds to his chest and mental exhaustion on top of that. The cuts weren't deep, but so many in the spots, over and over again, were extremely painful to heal. He had been stripped of his shirt ("My, Tear, you just _love _being a healer, don't you?") and literally drowned in bandages from waist to collar bone. He never showed any pain, and the healers were concerned he may have some nerve damage as well as Natalia, but Luke and Tear assured them he was just being Jade ("Well, Luke, you wouldn't want me taking _your_ idea and acting like Asch, now would you?"). He was, on a whole, much worse than he looked.

Tear returned to their room in the infirmary, which only had two beds. Natalia had insisted on being in the same room as Jade rather than the only other room ("You're as bad as Tear,") so Tear and the others wouldn't have to run from room to room looking after them.

"Hello, Tear. So who's got the fatal illness?" Jade greeted her cheerily, if a bit morbidly.

"No one, Jade, you know that," she was glad Jade was okay, but couldn't he have hurt his throat in some way so he couldn't say such things to her? "Grandfather said we should take you to a doctor in Daath for good measure."

"Oh, he needs a second opinion?" Jade closed his eyes, nodding. "It must be very serious indeed."

"Jade! Don't say things like that!" Natalia scolded the older man from behind the curtain that separated them. It wasn't doing much good, as Natalia could still hear Jade's insults past it.

"No one's going to die, he just wants your cuts cared for much better so they don't leave scars."

"Peony will be so upset when he learns I've had another uniform cut to ribbons. Those aren't cheap, mind you." Jade touched his lip in mock concern, ignoring Tear.

"Yes, I'm sure, Jade, but I'm sure he approved the design knowing full well their cost," Tear wasn't sure exactly what to say, so she just kind of went along with it, but she was sure anything that contradicted him would be turned back in her face, full force.

"Oh I'm sure," Jade kneaded his brow uncertainly. "I'm sure he didn't even glance at it."

"Right..." Tear made an effort to change the subject to one that didn't have her walking on eggshells.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Luke, sauntered in, unwittingly saving Tear from absolute verbal destruction. "Who's gonna die first?"

"Not you, too, Luke!" Natalia made as if to fold her arms, but the stiff dressings on her left arm prevented her from doing so.

"It seems we're very much unloved, Natalia," Jade sighed. "Perhaps we should begin composing our wills now to assure Luke and Tear don't get anything."

"Yeah, you do that," Luke answered offhandedly. "With Natalia out of the way, I'm one step closer to being King."

"Luke!" Natalia looked like she was about to storm out of her bed just to get at Luke's throat. "I can't _believe_ you!"

Jade started to say something about Asch, but a glare from Tear that said "_keep it to yourself _" silenced him. How could _she_ know what he was about to say? Perhaps she was getting more in tune with his unruly comments for Luke's sake. How sweet.

"So anyway, where's Anise?" Luke tried to start a conversation before Jade did.

"She said she was going to count how many steps long the walkway is," Natalia answered thoughtfully. "Though I have no idea why she's doing that."

"Maybe she thinks she's overweight and it's intended to be exercise," Jade smirked in Luke's direction. "I'm sure it's a ploy to win Luke over somehow."

"What?!" Tear seemed strangely alert.

"He's joking, Tear," Luke calmed her. "...At least, I think he is..."

"Regardless, it would be in our best interest to get to Daath, it seems."

Luke shook his head, never getting used to Jade's ability to so easily change the subject.

"Right. We'll be leaving tomorrow night," Tear told Jade. "Well, Luke and I are going find Anise."

"Well, you two have fun," Jade gave a wistful sigh as they left. "I hope you'll find it in your heart to visit your poor old friend again soon, as he tires of the company of a grumpy princess."

"Jade! If my arm weren't bandaged like this--!"

"Yes, princess, we all know you'd be all too willing to throttle me harder than a Castle Golem on steroids, but now is not the time nor the place"

Luke and Tear left swiftly, not wanting to get caught between a livid woman and a man that didn't care. That was an all too dangerous situation, as Luke was well aware.

Anise ran up to them from down the hall.

"Hey, guys, do you know where I can get any thread?"

"Thread? Why do you need thread?"

"That stupid prissy chick tore a huge hole in Tokunaga!"

"Oh, um, Tear, what _about_ Cantabile? Did someone give her a proper burial?"

"I don't know. I heard the port was closed off when they saw blood everywhere, but no one mentioned a body..."

"And the citizens wouldn't have approached that mess,"

"Huh? Are you saying she's alive?"

"No, Anise, we can't be sure yet," Tear looked down to the God-General. "We'll go investigate it soon."

"Right. Anise, do you know where Guy went?"

"He's drooling over the fontech somewhere, probably."

"Yeah. Let's go find him, Tear. I'm sure he'd like to know if we find out anything."

"Fine. You two have fun. I'm going ask the Colonel if they left any of the stuff they use for sutures around. Later!"

Anise disappeared behind the door before Luke or Tear could tell her not to. They decided it would be best to leave it alone; they could save their own hides at least.

"Hey. How's it going?" Guy met them halfway down the hall, looking extremely pleased with himself.

"Were, doing fine, thanks, but what about you?"

"Oh, you mean these cuts? It's nothing. When you're being counted on to fight at close range, you sort of get used to it after a while."

"I suppose so," Tear lowered her voice and asked, "Do you know if anyone took care of Cantabile's body?"

"No, I haven't heard anything else about that..."

"We were just on our way to check it out. Wanna come?" Luke folded his arms behind his head.

"Sure, but I was just going to see Jade and Natalia..."

"Um, now's not the best time," Luke pushed Guy out the door hastily.

"Huh?"

"As Luke said, the Colonel and Natalia don't want to be bothered right now..."

All three turned at the sound of a screech coming from the other end of the hall. Anise slammed the door none too carefully and darted to her friends. She fixed her arms around Guy's waist and spun him around, fleeing from the room in sheer terror.

Guy shrieked even louder than Anise had as he shoved helplessly at her arms. Anise was babbling what seemed like nonsense, and it took Luke a while to identify any legible words.

"...no, Colonel, no undead people please don't do it Colonel I hate fomicry stoppit stoppit _stoppit!_"

Luke pried Anise away from Guy, noticing his face was an unhealthy ashen shade, and shook her lightly.

"Anise, what's wrong?"

"The Colonel, he said, he said, he said bad things! Don't do it, Colonel, no!"

"Anise, slow down!" Tear brought the girl back to her senses. "You shouldn't be running like that; you'll hurt yourself!"

"Don't listen to him!" Anise nearly knocked Guy over as she bolted for the door.

"That Jade! I'm going to have a word with him!"

"But, Tear, weren't we going back to the--"

Luke found himself alone except for Guy, who had been clinging to his back since Anise left.

"Oh, hell!" Luke ran after the Seventh Fonist, calling to her to leave them alone, but she was all ready through the door.

"Luke?" Guy got no response, as Luke hadn't even heard him

"Oh, Tear, back so soon?" Jade grinned maliciously, his eyes glinting with mischeif.

"What did you do to Anise?"

"Nothing. I'd never hurt dear little Anise."

"Tear! Not now--" Luke had finally caught up to her and was making quite a show of pulling her back through the door with him, but she nudged him off and stood her ground.

"What did you tell her that would make her so upset?!"

"I said nothing to offend her. I was merely trying to help. She was just saying how much she missed Ion and wished we didn't have to kill Cantabile..."

"And?"

"I told her I could make her an army of Ions and Cantabiles if she wanted."

"_Colonel!_" Tear strode up to the injured colonel as Luke continued to tug at her arm. Natalia wasn't even commenting, shocked into sullen silence. "I can't _believe_ you told her that!"

Luke eventually gave up, tactfully retreating by mumbling about finding Anise and Guy. As he closed the door, he could still hear them for a minute.

"Tear? What are you--?!"

"Colonel, I can't believe you!"

"Tear, you mustn't lose your temper..."

Guy was waiting just outside the door. Luke simply shook his head before he could ask anything, guiding the noble back to the Albiore.

They found Anise, her legs dangling over the edge of the walkway, hugging Tokunaga fiercely and shivering.

"Anise..." Luke offered his hand to her. "He was just joking, Anise..."

"I know! But did he _have_ to say that?!"

"Don't listen to Jade, he just wants to get on your nerves," Guy pointed out. "You just have to get over it."

"Yeah, I guess..." Anise stood up and replaced Tokunaga. "So, were you headed further down?"

"Yeah..." Luke was a bit surprised at her sudden mood change, but he didn't say it.

"I don't see anything out of place," Guy said, squinting ahead as they made their way down the path. "It even looks like they've cleaned it up."

"Excuse me," Luke asked one of the soldiers on the dock. "Did you find anything unusual here las night?"

"Yeah, the place was covered in blood like some kind of nasty fight went on," he replied uncertainly. "We've got it all cleaned up for now, but Teodoro won't say anything else."

"You mean you didn't find... a body, or anything, did you?"

"No, nothing like that, but there were smudges like one had been dragged around a bit."

"Okay, thanks. Sorry for bothering you," Luke, Guy, and Anise turned to go back to see if Tear was still alive. She just so happened to come barging through the door, its shock not even felt in her rage, and she marched right up to the three others.

"Anise, are you all right?"

"Yes, Tear. You don't have to worry about me."

"I taught him a painful lesson, so he shouldn't be approached until we leave." She turned her back to them. "The aftermath will have some interesting effects."

The others exchanged glances, not even thinking about asking for further details.

* * *

When they were ready to set out the following night, Teodoro met them by the dock. They said their goodbyes, and Noelle took off to Daath.

They rode in silence for a while; Luke didn't really feel like starting or having a conversation, really, so he instead tried to read them, figuring out on his own what they were thinking.

Tear was still uneasy around Jade. Could she still be that mad? He never even did anything to her. Luke had never known her to get so upset over Anise, and was quite curious as to what could have set her off. She obviously didn't want to talk about anything, either, so he left her alone. She was in her own little world, staring out the window like that.

Anise was busy repairing Tokunaga. She had acquired some thread from somewhere, that wasn't too hard to believe, but where had she gotten the needle? She must carry a few on her just in case something like this turned up. Luke almost wanted to try sewing himself for a minute; it looked so calming and simple, at that. He quickly drove the notion from his head. Sewing was too girly, even if it looked interesting.

Natalia was seated across from Jade, and she was stroking her bad arm absently. Luke could hear her mumble a healing spell every now and then, but she looked really lost for the most part. Could she be thinking about Asch?...

Guy was also gazing out the window, but Luke assumed it wasn't just the staring-into-space kind of stare; he was probably examining the shape of the Albiore's right wing attentively. He seemed ill at ease, however, as he kept tapping his foot against the floor rather tensely, and Luke could only guess he was wondering about Cantabile. Could she be alive? She would undoubtedly head for Daath, and that's where they were headed now. They'd find out soon enough.

Jade was lounged out across both his seat and Guy's, as the other was vacant for the moment. He appeared to be asleep, but he was probably just waiting for them to speak so he could make some kind of obscene comment. He always appeared innocent, but his evil mind was actively searching for any way he could annoy the rest of them. Luke was beginning to think that was his hobby, like someone would collect things or, like Anise, sew things and do other tedious little crafty-crafts. No one would ever know...

* * *

Dist laid Cantabile on her bed in her chamber. The bleeding had stopped, at least, but he would never get these stains out of his chair!

Cantabile coughed and turned her head to look at Dist fussing over his chair.

"Stop worrying about that stupid chair and get some help, dammit!"

"But Fon Master--"

"Just go!" she spat out a clot of blood that had formed on her lip. "Find those doctors that said they came from Belkend!"

"Oh,_ fine_, Fon Master."

The self-proclaimed Rose floated off, disgruntled, to do her bidding.

He wandered out the cathedral to the marketplace, unsure of where to start looking.

"Oh, Dist, it's you,"

"Noir! You're finally back in Daath. Do you know about some doctors that said they came here from Belkend?"

"Yeah, they said they was going to set up in the cathedral," Urushi chimed in. "They wants a steep price, though, or you can't even see 'em."

"No matter, the Fon Master has access to the Order's funds," Dist was glad the answer was as easy as that and he didn't have to think up some weird way to get money. "She just recently taxed the hell out of Chesedonia, so there should be plenty accumulating all ready."

"Perfect. We'll go on ahead and let 'em know, then," York told Dist.

"Fine, fine, just make her shut up,"

"You got it," Noir assured him smoothly. "Just watch out for Luke and his gang. They're coming this way soon, and they're after those specialists, too."


	12. It was their promise

Luke led his party into Daath's bustling market. He never knew why, but he always ended up leading the way wherever they went. He wasn't the best pathfinder and he wasn't exceptionally familiar with any of the places they went, but maybe they looked up at him as the leader. That was a nice thought, so long as it wasn't Jade's idea; he would have Luke walk in front just in case they got attacked or walked into a trap. But Daath was safe, or at least, it was supposed to be.

"So what're these doctors' names?" Anise asked the colonel rather innocently.

"I'm not sure, but I'll let you know as soon as they diagnose the severity of my injuries. It's been nice knowing you, Anise."

"Colonel! Stop saying that kind of stuff! I don't like it!"

"Okay, Anise. I'll let you know when they pronounce Natalia paralyzed for life, then."

"Colonel! Please stop that right now," Natalia folded her arms loosely. "And I can use my arm just fine thanks to Yulia City's wonderful healers."

"Of course," Jade exaggerated a shrug to immense proportions. "They are indeed wonderful. Otherwise they never would have known the best place to send us when they couldn't handle a few scratches on my own good self."

"Jade, don't pick a fight with Natalia again," Tear stopped her even stride long enough to give the colonel a sour glare. "Or me either, for that matter."

"Yeah, Colonel! Stop it!"

"Oh my, I'm afraid I can't refuse three ladies begging at my knees for mercy," Jade shook his head as if the situation was hopeless. "Then, it is with the goodness in my heart that I honor your plea."

"Jade has about as much good in his heart as Dist," Guy couldn't resist adding.

"Oh, he got you, Colonel!" Anise giggled excitedly.

"I'm hurt, Guy," Jade's voice remained as unchanged as ever. "When I write out my will, you're not getting anything."

"Like I was getting something before..."

"How rude, Guy. I was leaving you in possession of my house. I guess I'll have to leave it to Anise, then."

"Yay! Now I have somewhere decent to live!" Anise cheered.

"But Jade's practically immortal," Luke pointed out. "I mean...he's _Jade_. I can't see him dying from battle or otherwise."

"Maybe he needs a little _help_," Anise's eyes glittered greedily in her lust for money.

"Why, thank you Anise, but I can manage just fine on my own."

Luke pushed the great doors of the cathedral open and held it for them. They headed to see Grand Maestro Tritheim in the rear sanctuary. He would have gotten word of anybody notable entering or leaving Daath, and asking him was more practical than questioning random people.

"Oh, Luke, you're finally here," The priest faced the group, greeting them nicely enough. The door slammed behind them, and soldiers moved to block off their escape. "Dist told me he was waiting for you to come."

"Damn that bastard!" Jade winced as the guards closed in, occasionally prodding them with their polearms.

"How did he know we were coming?" Luke shoved away a venturing swordtip. "And why the hell does he care anyway!?"

"Ahahahahahaha!" Dist floated down from the second story of the large room, cackling giddily. "I have you trapped like a rat, Jade!"

"Good job, Dist," he congratulated him. "It must have been very difficult. If I wanted to trap you, all I would have to do is tip over your chair."

"Grrr!" Dist's gloves scuffed the brilliant polish on the arms of his chair. "Guards! Lock them up somewhere, I don't want to hear any more out of that slime!"

"Yes, sir!" One who was apparently the captain of the rank signaled to another to disarm them. Luke grunted, struggling against the guard as he seized his weapon and bound his hands. The others found themselves in similar situations as well.

"Take them to the depths of Oracle Headquarters!" Dist ordered. "Lock them in a room somewhere until I find the time to have my revenge!"

Luke felt a soldier push him roughly from behind, urging him back through the door. The others soon followed, each with their own guard. Luke reflected on the irony of the fact that he was still in front of the group. What a silly thing to be thinking of, now, of all times.

He was, however, the last to be shoved into the cell. The halls were dark, and it took Luke until had paced the perimeter of the room four times that he realized he was alone in the cell. He heard Anise protesting angrily with the men, and she went suddenly quiet when Luke heard the slap of skin on skin.

"Leave her alone!" Luke kicked the door, as he hadn't yet undone the rope around his wrists. A gruff soldier's voice shouted at him accompanied by the thump of heavy armor beating on the door.

Luke sank down to his knees and decided it was no use. He furiously worked at the wide twine that was tied around his wrists and behind his back. Eventually, he was able to work it loose enough to widen the loop and slip his hands out. After he had massaged the ropeburns sufficiently, he was sure the soldiers had gone. He tapped the door lightly.

"Anise? You okay?"

"Yeah," she sounded rather distraught and was rustling around quite a bit as though she, too, was untying the rope. "What about the others?"

"I'm here," Tear called from what Luke assumed to be to the left of Anise.

"Me, too," Natalia added from Anise's other side.

"I'm okay," Guy knocked the stone wall to Luke's right.

"I'm quite all right," Jade said happily. "I've been bound, my wounds are bleeding like crazy from all their poking, it's too dark to see, I'm all alone, I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I can't use fonic artes. I'm just dandy, thanks for asking."

"Jade, are you okay!?" Luke rushed to the wall on his right side, as if he could help from his position.

"I just said I was _fine_," Jade grinned, though no one could see in the inky black that swallowed them. "Anyway, how about we get out of this wretched place?"

"Ugh," Guy sighed, frustrated. "Why can't you ever be serious?"

"You don't want to get out? Fine, then, we'll leave you here." Jade was never without his weapon, as all he had to do was summon the fonons that composed it into his hand, and his spear was there in a flash of green-tinged light. In that brief moment, Luke saw the girls' cells illuminate past the barred door that held him. The walls on either side of him were stone, and the others' holding chambers were identical.

Jade twisted his hands as much as the tightly wrapped rope would allow, and he sliced through it with the blade of his spear. His hands free, he stood up and walked in the direction he had been fallen from the soldier's grasp. The door was made of crossed bands of rusted metal; the weakest type of bars. He tested them with his hands, but they were still surprisingly strong despite their age.

"Hmph, no good," Luke heard Jade clang his spear against the bars. Jade chipped at the bolts that held them together. The rust flaked down by the pound. He scraped away at a few more until he was satisfied with the job.

"Can't get the lock open," Guy mumbled from Luke's left. He heard the rattle of metal parts and a final clinking blow as Guy tossed it down.

Tear, Natalia, Guy, and Luke started at the sound they heard next. Anise grunted and the bars of her cell bowed under the force of Tokunaga's punches. She pounded them again and again, but the metal only bent; it would not snap.

"Oh, fine..." she sank to the ground, disgruntled. "They didn't take Tokunaga, at least, but he can't--"

A cacophony of steel, copper, and brass exploded from Jade's cell. He untangled his spear from the two bars against which he had braced it to get the leverage he needed. The twisted metal revealed a small portal, one that he could barely enlarge. He opened it as much as he could, and, with as much dignity as possible, crawled out the hole. He dusted off his shirt, which was now shredded and soaked in the blood of his injuries, both new and old.

"Still alive in there?" he ran his weapon against the bars of the others' cells, taunting them. "Let me know when you get out. I'll be planning a nice little tea party for you."

A guard had heard the commotion and came rushing down the stairs to see about it. He had no time to see, however, as Jade's spear was now protruding from a space in his armor. Even the chainmail that covered any exposed spaces in the Oracle Knights' armor didn't stop the Necromancer's swift throw. Jade sent Gungnir back to the shadows for the next time he needed it; for now, he wasted no time relieving the soldier of the keys he'd been holding.

"Thank you very much, sir, though it_ is_ a shame you can't come to the party," Jade apologized, easily freeing the rest of his comrades.

"Looks like Jade has saved the day," Guy commented as he ducked out of the cell. "That was fast."

"But of course," Jade swung the door to Tear's cell open. "We wouldn't like to miss the tea party. It will be _so_ much fun, now won't it?"

"Right, Colonel," Tear said absently. "But where are our weapons?"

"Just down the hall," he cheerily pointed to the collection of arms that the guards had obtained from their prisoners. Tear extracted their weapons from the assortment and brought them to the rest.

"Shakunage..." Guy accepted his belt and sheathed sword. Their weapons were valuable; not only to allow them to fight, but these were hard-earned weapons from the Coliseum in Baticul.

Anise grabbed the Holy Cross, and Luke took his own Key of Lorelei. He always preferred the Key to the Soul Crush. Natalia shouldered the Celestial Star, and they discussed their plan with Jade, who seemed to have an idea.

"If Dist is here, Cantabile must be alive," he whispered to them. "He must still be under orders from her if he was defending Tritheim so eagerly."

"How do you know that?" Tear asked.

"Simple. The doctors are seeing to Cantabile now; she's most likely gravely injured, if not near death. He didn't want us barging in and taking them to look at us."

"That makes sense," Anise replied, Tokunaga at the ready. "So what's the battle plan?"

"We make our way back to the entrance to the Fon Master's room. That's likely where she will be." Jade doodled a vague map into the dirt on the floor. "We have to find her and finish the job. There's no way we can let her live."

"Colonel..." Anise was quite unhappy with his plan. "You mean you'll kill her even if she's unconscious in her bed?"

"Anise, it is necessary," Jade wiped the grime off of his glasses as best he could on his equally grimy uniform. "She is a threat to all of Daath if she recovers."

"I know, but... It's still cruel."

"The job of a soldier is to serve your country," Jade told the Oracle Knight. "Now that you're a full-blown soldier, too, you have to learn to put your emotions behind you, no matter the cost or situation."

"I know, but...it's hard..."

"Anise," Jade held her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Tear did it at your age. You have to help us however you can, now."

"Right!" she met his gaze and nodded vigorously.

"Now that our little pep rally's all over," Jade turned to the others. "shall we enjoy the tea party?"

* * *

"Blood transfusion?!" Cantabile roared at the unfortunate doctors who had come to care for her. "You can't even bandage the wounds first and you're talking about a blood transfusion!?"

The two men recoiled at her outburst. Why had they been called; this one was as lively as she could ever be. It's not like they could get close enough to her to do anything.

"You two just better get some gauze or cloth or—or _something_, and find something to treat burns, too! You two had better not come back here without it, or so help your conniving hides, I'll--"

Dist entered the room, looking quite pleased with himself. He floated over to the Fon Master as the two doctors made a speedy escape and left her rage to Dist.

"What the hell are you so happy about?!" Cantabile growled, still high in ire.

"Fon Master, I've finally captured Jade and--"

"You son of a--" Cantabile grabbed Dist's collar, pulling him from his chair and shoving her face into his. "You brought Jade into Daath?! What were you thinking? That damned Necromancer will find some way out and come after me!" She tossed Dist to the ground.

"Fon Master, what--"

"Find him," she scowled down at the cowering man. "Find him and bring him here to me. I want him bound, unarmed, and under heavy guard."

"Yes, Fon Master!" Dist scrambled for his chair, all too eager to get away from the livid Fon Master's wrath. There was no telling what she'd do to him if he didn't obey. It's not like he had any choice now.

Cantabile's hand flew to her left arm. Did that Necromancer _have_ to use Indignation, anyway?! He'd left her with ugly scars all over her body, and one particularly nasty one had swollen her left eye shut. Well, if those damn doctors didn't do anything fast, she would lose her sight in that eye. It's not like she really cared, anyway; she always wore an eye patch, so it never benefited her.

The scars weren't bad. A few scars meant nothing in the long run, if only she could still fight. Her clothing had offered a little protection, but not enough to prevent utter devastation. Her flesh was literally peeling off the muscle in strips. The pain, she could deal with the pain, it was only a mind over matter deal. If she ignored it, it didn't hurt. But the damage was immense, she could see that clearly. It was nothing a good Seventh Fonist or two couldn't heal, but with the Planet Storm gone...

She cursed herself for so rashly sending Dist away. If he was going to the basement, he could have brought back the fontech so she could heal herself. She didn't trust anyone else with the task of healing her, but maybe she could use those fools for something...

The pair of doctors returned, panting, with enough gauze with which to make several rugs, and oil from a plant native to Tataroo Valley for the burns. She snatched the materials from them and proceeded to apply them wherever they were needed.

"Don't you want--"

"Shut up," she snarled, not bothering to shift her attention away from herself. "I can do it by myself."

They shrank back to the corner, avoiding any and all contact with the mad Fon Master as she bandaged herself from the legs up.

"Hey, you," Cantabile didn't address either one in particular. "Go find Dist and tell him to get back here immediately."

The man nodded, shaking, and ran off. The other man was terrified. He didn't want to be alone in a room with such an unruly charge.

"Can I help in any way, Fon Master?" he asked timidly.

Cantabile gave him a stare that forced him back down. Her face was so horribly mangled, burned beyond anything he'd ever seen, and yet she seemed to be in no pain at all. Only with third-degree burns did their victims feel no pain, but these scorch marks weren't that severe. What made them look so bad was the multitude of slash marks that ran down her limbs and neck and--

He wisely turned his back to her as she removed her coat and shirt to wrap the poultices around her chest. She said nothing as she worked, using the plant oil to soothe her flesh every now and then. Her eye was so solid and hard, as if her will were the only thing keeping her from screaming her pain to the world. And it was.

She would not die here, could not die without her revenge. Jade would die, and if she did, too, it would only be after him. She grinned malevolently. Some people thought it was so unthinkably wrong for a child to die before its parents. She would have to uphold that.

Dist returned shortly, the other poor man trailing behind. Dist charged into the room absentmindedly, and turned, whining his apologies to Cantabile as he hid his face.

"Shut up and look at me," Cantabile ground out each syllable forcibly. "Make your report."

Dist faced the Fon Master, who had sufficiently dressed herself in bandages, but still looked as though she were the living dead.

"The Jade gang has escaped," he muttered under his breath, his eyes still fixed on the floor. "They have broken out and recovered their weapons. They intend to finish you off here."

"I thought so," Cantabile breathed deeply, ensuring she had not made the bandages too tight, and closed her eyes, fighting to quell the pain. "Have all available Oracle Knights alert and on the lookout. If they are caught, make sure they are all alive and brought to me immediately. I will deal with them myself."

"Yes, Fon Master," Dist still wasn't too happy about Cantabile's sudden and vicious behavior. She just ordered him around like—well, never mind. She _was_ the Fon Master. He backed out of the door, hoping she wouldn't call him back into the room. It was bad enough having a very moody Fon Master, but she was hurt at that, and the think smell of blood was not pleasant. Maybe, if he was lucky, she would die from this. But Dist was never a very lucky one, and he doubted he'd get off that easily.

* * *

Luke dashed down corridor after identical corridor. He hated the deeper parts of the cathedral; it was all exactly the same and getting lost seemed inevitable. Often they'd pass priests wandering the halls as though it were nothing. For all he knew, they were their own separate tribe, one that was doomed to forever roam the vast Daath cathedral, committing cannibalism whenever they happened to stumble upon another of their kind. There were no monsters here, unless they utilized the glyph to Mt. Zaleho and brought the kill back here and fought over it. He could only guess at what other atrocities they did in order to survive here.

They ran into Oracle Knights a few times; all seemed intent on the capture of their prey. Word had gotten out of their escape, and it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed and in jail again. Luke tried not to think of such things and forced himself to focus on keeping up with the others. Even Jade and Anise were pushing themselves, despite their need to take it easy on the hundreds of stitched they had gotten. Natalia seemed to be okay, but she was not one for endurance runs as it was. Tear could have been feeling anything; she never showed it anyway. Guy's stoic expression told him nothing as well. He had taken on the grim look as if he were mentally preparing for murder, which, essentially, they were.

"Stop, in the name of Fon Master Cantabile!" a pair of soldiers appeared before them, and Luke swung his sword halfheartedly, stunning him. Jade swiped his speartip past the gap in the visor, and they kept going without breaking pace. _Another_ door? When would it all end?

And, finally, they were in the glyph room. They dashed through the light of the other four and headed to the middle one.

They were taken to the upper level; the only way to reach Cantabile's room. Luke inhaled deeply, willing himself for the challenge. Jade placed his hand on Luke's shoulder.

"If you don't want to do it, I would be glad to."

"Jade...no, I'll do it." Luke shook his head. "I have to be able to control Lorelei and there's no better way than this."

"If you wish," Jade let his hand fall. "But should you lose control, I will take over."

"Right."

"I'll help, too," Anise drew her mace, ready for anything. "She may still summon Lorelei. If she sings the Grand Fonic Hymn while you're in there..."

"There's no telling what will happen," Natalia gazed down through the myriad of crisscrossing walkways below them. "She may be able to use Lorelei's power to heal herself and fight back."

"Yeah," Guy added, wringing his hands apprehensively. "She may heal herself, but we're still weak from our battle."

"Luke..." Tear walked in front of him, her hands clenched slightly. "Be careful. If you die here, now, of all times..."

"Tear...I'll be fine." Luke offered his arm to her, briefly wrapping it around her waist. Tear threw herself into his chest, returning the gesture full-force. He smiled, and then released her. "You can also summon Lorelei. We just need to do it before Cantabile does."

She nodded, her eyes bright with tears. He'd been through this much, he had to live now...

* * *

Lorelei. How stupid could she be?

Here she was, complaining of the lack of Seventh Fonons, and she had the Key of Lorelei by her side and the Grand Fonic Hymn. She could summon him and he would heal her. It was the only way now.

The cringing doctors and Dist had long since left, repelled by her biting attitude. She was by herself now, and she began to sing. Each melody blended to the next perfectly, and her voice was pure, despite her ability to argue her heart out. When she wanted to be, she could almost be...nice.

Lorelei would come now. He would heal her, and she would be able to deal with Jade and his party herself. But fist she had to finish her song, the beautiful Grand Fonic Hymn, and he would come.

It was their promise.


	13. No one could survive

Well, if chap 10 got a pre-author's note, then this one sure as hell does. I'll just say not even I saw the ending coming. Also, thanks again to all who have taken the time to review! And, since I don't know what else to write, I'll shut up here. Enjoy!

* * *

Luke gripped the doorknob to Cantabile's room, his hand all ready slick with sweat. He felt a headache coming on, but he ignored it and clenched the Key of Lorelei tightly. 

Then he heard her singing. The Grand Fonic Hymn was ending, and he hadn't even opened the door yet.

"Luke! Get a hold of yourself!" Jade commanded sternly from behind him. But Luke couldn't hear him.

Asch's voice roared out from inside him, and suddenly everything blurred and went black.

Then he was someplace familiar. Luke glanced around at the white void around him. A framework of multicolored structures held the light up, and everything was glowing.

The rest of his group appeared behind him, running up to make sure he was okay. Jade remained calm, fixing his glasses, as usual. They were too late.

"What just happened?" Anise pulled Luke up from his kneel.

"It would seem Cantabile has summoned Lorelei," Jade said darkly. "It may have caused a hyperresonance with Luke and transported us here."

"Is this?..." Guy noticed his surroundings for the first time, as he had also been at Luke's side.

"The core," Luke raised his head, squinting into the blinding light. "What the hell?!" he staggered back to his feet clumsily. "Are we trapped here?!"

"It's about time."

No one could tell where the voice was coming from, and at first, Luke thought he was the only one who'd heard it until Natalia spoke.

"Asch?"

He walked over to them, as though caught in the fog of brightness around them. Natalia gasped, unable to believe what she saw. Asch met her eyes, and she immediately ran to him. Asch was surprised at her sudden embrace, but he reluctantly hugged her back.

"It's been a while, Natalia," he seemed much more relaxed than he normally was, despite Luke being right there. "It's good to see you."

Guy was overflowing with loathing, but he never showed any emotion toward Asch's return. Anise was shocked into silence, and she couldn't even mutter a greeting to him. Tear's eyes widened as she whispered his name under her breath.

"Asch--" Luke, of course, had to barge in and corrupt Asch's mood, and he did so rather effectively. "You're okay!"

The glare he received could have killed a small mammal. Asch roughly pushed Natalia back, and he started for his replica. Asch held Luke up by his collar, angry curses spilling from his mouth.

"I can't believe you have the gall to show up here! I thought I was finally rid of you, but here you are! What the hell is going on?!"

"Asch--" Luke wrenched his original's hand from his neck. "I don't know what happened, but why are you here?"

"We were brought here by hyperresonance," Jade advanced, nodding to Luke knowledgeably. "It seems Cantabile has summoned Lorelei, but we haven't seen her."

"I _know_ about Cantabile," Asch grunted, losing his patience with the colonel. "But why did you come _here_, of all places?"

"We had no say as far as our destination goes. But why are you here, Asch?"

"This is the planet's memory, where all things always exist. I was given a solid form when Cantabile summoned me."

"Asch..." Natalia looked dejected from where she was shoved aside by Asch. "So you_ are_ Lorelei, after all?"

"You, dreck! You're worthless! You couldn't let me do anything, could you?!" Asch ignored Natalia and instead faced Luke.

"Asch, what are you talking about?!"

"I could see the planet's memory! Why didn't you let me warn you about her!? None of this would have happened if you'd just listened for once!"

"Asch, the planet's memory isn't--"

"Here you are."

"Damn," Asch spun and saw a smudge of a shadow coming from the mists of light.

"Lorelei," Cantabile addressed Asch grandly. "Heal me and give me the power to fight!"

"Never," Asch scowled, putting himself between her and the others.

"Answer to the hymn!" Cantabile raged at him. She approached them, her verses illuminating the background even more. Asch backed away from her, head in his hand, as she pressed him further.

Luke made a bold and swift move, knocking Cantabile to the side and cutting off the hymn.

"Asch! Are you all right?" Luke offered his hand to the former God-General, but he slapped it away.

"Leave me alone, replica. It's bad enough she's sapping my power like that, but you have to be here to make it all the worse. And stop talking to me; if you want to say something, use the connection!"

"Asch!" Luke blocked a swing from Cantabile's sword, saving his original. "Help us fight her!"

"I have no choice, I guess," He drew his dark blade, and the rest of the group soon followed suit, their own weapons ready. "Taste cold steel, Cantabile!"

He lunged at her, catching her open side, but she easily flicked Luke away and deflected Asch's move. The fonic artists readied their spells in the meantime, while the usual close ranged battlers dashed to help Luke and Asch.

"This power..." Tear whispered to Jade, who was casting beside her. "There was a mass amount of fonons in the core?"

"Not just Seventh Fonons, it seems," the two fonists were able to carry out a conversation while building their spells rather easily. "I can feel all the others, too. We may be able to use this to our advantage."

Guy wasn't too thrilled about fighting side by side with Asch, but he tried to adjust as much as he could. They would have to coordinate their attacks if they wanted to fight efficiently.

"Turbulence!" Jade released the spell right on target, but Cantabile was quick, and she sidestepped out of range.

"Turbulence?!" Asch complained. "Give us some decent FOFs!"

"Allow me," Guy pushed forward. "_Dragon Tempest!_"

"Show-off," Asch spat as the fury of blades of wind swirled just short of where Cantabile was now clashing with Luke. "You missed."

"You do better, then!"

"Will do," Asch muttered, gathering his strength.

"_Holy Lance!_" Tear sent countless bolts of light that were nearly invisible in their current surroundings at Cantabile, but she simply dodged again.

"Got it!" Asch darted forward, catching Cantabile in her blind spot. "Begone! _Burning Havoc!_"

Flames spiraled up from the ground, and Asch knocked her down with a fierce kick. "Think I'm finished yet?" A ring of cyan lights sprang up beneath him. "Annihilation! _Rending Saber!_"

Cantabile wasted no time with her recovery. She couldn't let them win, and now the odds were even harder wish Asch fighting, too.

"_Revitalize!_"

Luke groaned when he realized the spell was not Tear's, and went after Cantabile again.

Natalia didn't dare aim at Cantabile; with so many others right on top of the enemy, there was no telling what she'd hit. She contented herself with healing spells from the back, and maybe she would go for it if she got a clear shot to Cantabile. But for now, there was nothing she could do.

"_Surge Breaker!_" Anise built up her own combo of punches and lightning spells, leaving a faint wind FOF in her wake. "Feel the sting! _Lightning Punishment!_" Tokunaga spun in rapid circles, electricity towering in a huge tornado around him. Cantabile flinched as she felt the edge of a shock, but she was soon clear. As Anise tried to shake the dizziness of her move off, Cantabile took her opportunity.

"Gambit!" she drove her blade into Tokunaga, and pulled it closer before slamming it to the ground. She was about to strike Anise's exposed back when Luke and Asch took her from behind.

"_Sonic Blast!_" The pair's perfectly choreographed blows were due to their connection; what better way to share battle strategies? They pinned Cantabile against the gargantuan doll, preparing to loose another double strike, but she threw them all in different directions with her overlimit.

"You dare defy me?!" she remembered her plan this time, and she rushed up to Tear as soon as she could. Tear scrambled to either use her spell or drop it and run. She did neither in time, and Cantabile was upon her, Mystic Arte ready.

"_Absolute!_" Jade sent spires of ice up under Cantabile, but she avoided them entirely with her own arte.

"You are nothing before me!" Spheres of light surrounded her, spinning as she faced Tear, unleashing her full power. "_Fragmented End!_"

Tear screamed in agony and slumped down.

"Tear!" Luke was at her side in no time.

"You should watch your back!" Cantabile mocked Luke as she dealt him a forceful blow to his head. He grunted in pain, but didn't lose consciousness as she expected.

"Demon Fist!" Asch distracted her and launched his attacks from afar, taunting her to come closer. "Come on, prissy chick, you aren't letting me get away with that so easily, are you?"

Cantabile ignored him, battering Luke again as he tried to rise.

"_Final Glacier!_" Guy summoned spears of ice from the ground beneath Cantabile, smashing them for immense damage. "Leave Luke alone!"

"Right, then, I'll destroy you, now!" Cantabile's blazing eyes glinted evilly in the suffocating light. "_Feel my blade!_"

She sliced at Guy rapidly, her blade slashing up, then across, and down and over itself again. She ended the barrage with a kick that sent him down.

Guy jumped back to his feet, colors exploding in his vision, and he charged at her again, his sword raised. They met, each itching to find an opening. Cantabile twitched her swordtip, sending Guy's off a little, but he was ready for her.

"Sword Rain Alpha!"

Both fighters' speed tripled as they used the same tactic. Cantabile held her ground, determined not to let him get close to Luke. She faltered for a second, glancing back to check on Luke. What the hell?! Asch was healing him! When did he--

Guy took his chance, thrusting his sword into Cantabile's side swiftly. She staggered, falling back as the blade stayed in place, blood dripping from it.

She felt the familiar sensation of healing artes as Asch dropped back in surprise, away from her body. He had healed her, however indirectly, and she rolled away from Guy's sword as he tried to slash her in mid air--

Too much happened at once.

"Luke?!" Guy couldn't quite believe the sight. He stood there frozen, and Asch, Jade, Natalia, and Anise only stared at the end of Guy's sword.

Or where it would be had they been able to see it.

"Guy?" Luke grunted, squinting up at him and heaving for breath.

Natalia made haste, and she knelt by Luke and Tear, who was still unconscious. She poured all her effort into her Cures and Heals, but Luke didn't respond.

Guy couldn't tear his gaze from the sight of his sword embedded deep into Luke's chest. What the hell happened?!

"Guy! Snap out of it!" Jade held his position, gathering Fifth and Third Fonons.

Cantabile was pretty far off, but she made no move to attack them. Guy fell to his knees, still unable to react.

"Guy! Do something about--"

"_O sacred will, strike down those who would be mine enemy! Divine Saber!_"

Guy finally heard Jade, but he was too late to interrupt Cantabile's arte. He stumbled back, and the spell was accurately centered on him rather than the others. Lightning shot from above, meeting the glyph at his feet, but it struck radically, and Guy was able to weave out of range with little effort. He ran headlong for Cantabile, his sword still bathed in Luke's blood.

She was ready for him, and held her sword in a parry before he even reached her.

"_Nihil Blade Tempest!_"

"_Carapace Gambit!_"Cantabile countered, slashing once, then dodged behind him and slashed again. She focused her energy and channeled it into a final thrust, knocking Guy down on his face.

"Any more fancy moves you'd like to try?"

Guy grunted as she prodded him with her sword. She traced the all ready painful wounds that stretched down his back with the tip of her blade.

"This is fun, but where's the Necromancer? I'd rather do this to him instead."

"_Prism Sword!_" As if on cue, his spell took effect. Cantabile sighed, stepping out of range once more.

"If you're gonna hit me with a spell, at least use one I'm not familiar with!"

"If you insist," Jade shrugged, preparing another fonic arte.

"Luke?" Natalia left off her healing for a minute to see if it had helped any.

"Is it working?" Asch was helping her, using the power of Lorelei to heal him as well.

Luke shuddered and tried to roll over, but Natalia caught him.

"Please don't move, Luke."

Luke opened his eyes slowly. He sat up, and Natalia protested again, but Asch stopped her.

"What the hell happened?"

"You got injured," Asch gave him minimal details. "We healed you. That's it."

"Cantabile! Where'd she go?" Luke jumped up, Natalia still supporting him.

"Luke, you shouldn't--"

"Let him do what he wants," Asch folded his arms as though he couldn't care less. "Let's get Tear back up so she can help you keep up with the others."

"O-okay..." Natalia set to work on Tear, but she wasn't sure she was doing very much compared to Asch. He had brought Luke around so quickly and had artes potent enough to rival days of nonstop healing by any single Seventh Fonist.

"Dragon Surge!" Anise sent Tokunaga after Cantabile once again, but she sidestepped neatly.

"See why little kids shouldn't fight?" Cantabile swept her sword low, and the doll tripped over backward. "What an impractical way to battle, that thing is at least thrice your size."

Anise only groaned in reply from under the plush monster, and she made an effort to crawl out and right herself.

"I don't have time to deal with you," Cantabile stood over her, shaking her head.

Anise stood resolutely.

"I'm not dead yet. You may have destroyed Tokunaga, but I won't give up! You'll pay!"

"Oh will I?"

"_Fang Blade Havoc!_" Luke slashed down out from the veil of white. He got between Anise and Cantabile, buying Anise more time to get away. "Anise! Back me up!"

"Right!"

"What the--?! You're still alive?!" Cantabile met him slash for slash, their blades echoing around the void. "I thought Guy had you!"

"Guy?!" Luke faltered, and Cantabile forced him back a few inches.

"That's right. He was the one that—"

"Limited!"

Cantabile executed a perfect backflip off of the pink-lined glyph.

"_Demon Fang Fury!_"

The immense shockwave hit Luke from the distance, and he staggered long enough for Cantabile to continue her attack.

"_Guardian Field!_" Luke managed to push her back slightly, and he regained a bit of ground.

"Thanks, Luke," Jade called from behind him. "_Flare Tornado!_"

"_Force Field!_"

A shell of fonic power deflected the raging column of flame and spared Cantabile the pain of more burns. She backed up in the confusion and started her own spell.

"_Grand Cross!_"

Anise couldn't halt her own spell in time to get away from the ominous pattern of light below her, and a stem of Sixth Fonons burst up, and she fell backwards again, this time without Tokunaga to take the blow.

Meanwhile, Natalia and Asch had been able to get Tear up. She was still in pain, but she would have to use her artes to help the others. Asch left as soon as she had risen; he wanted to get back in close quarters with Cantabile, as he didn't like wasting his time casting when he could be on the front lines.

Natalia stayed by Tear and they watched out for the others, healing them from afar whenever they needed to. Jade was nearby, but he was focused on Cantabile, trying to head her off with any spell he could, but she was extremely agile. How could she be so strong after just barely surviving Indignation? She had to have summoned Lorelei before they arrived in the core; maybe Luke's appearance made Asch awaken and neglect her. And furthermore, why was Luke able to get so close to her without so much as any pain? That must have something to do with Asch as well; maybe his healing powers were so intense he needn't even use them...

Luke and Asch were now the only ones directly confronting her. She had to pay attention to both at all times and she never let either one out of her sight. They were silent, but their moves were in such perfect time as though they were setting each other up for the fatal blow as soon as she screwed up. She was extra careful, but she couldn't afford to slow even for a second or they would catch her in an instant.

She caught both of their swords with the flat of hers. She must have done something wrong; it looked like this is how they wanted her.

"Stalagmite!"

Cantabile let her wrist succumb. They fell forward as she jumped back, and the blunt rock that had been intended for her sorely missed its mark.

"Stupid bastard!" Asch hollered, though Luke couldn't figure out if he meant Jade, Cantabile, or him. Luke groaned and picked himself up carefully, shrugging off the bits of stone that had fallen into the folds of his jacket.

"Hey! You guys need to be careful, we don't want our healers passing out from exhaustion!"

"I can heal myself!" Asch shouted, thoroughly frustrated.

"_Judgment!_"

Bolts of glowing light stabbed down from empty space at the battlefield. Tear sang a hasty Force Field and saved Natalia and herself, but Jade was caught mid-spell. The devastating shock was not unlike a mini-Indignation. Perhaps it was one of her many plans for revenge.

Jade fell, and Tear worked on Resurrection to bring him back to the action. Luke and Asch tried to hold back Cantabile as she slashed her way to Tear, desperate to kill the healer. She had other ideas, and soon was able to stun them with carefully placed swipes at their necks.

"I thought I got you down a long time ago!" Cantabile shouted, raising her sword. "_Lightning Tiger Blade!_"

Steel swam through Tear's vision, and it created multiple streaks of blood on her arms, followed by a jolt of lightning from above. She remained standing, and gave up casting at such close range.

"_Banishing Sorrow!_" Tear knocked the Fon Master backwards with a burst of fonic energy. She attempted to resume her spell, but Cantabile was on top of her again, flinging her blade back and forth in what seemed like a spasmodic dance of metal. Tear found out a bit too late that each swing set up the next, and her endless combo sent her down swiftly.

Cantabile broke off, turning to the pair of redheads rushing to save their friend.

"Bastard!" Luke snorted. "_Light Spear Cannon!_" He swept his blade upward in an arc, thrusting at Cantabile's head, but she blocked, her blade locked at a ninety degree angle to the other replica's. Natalia strained her bowstring, aiming for Cantabile's back. She lined up her shot exactly, and let fly her arrow.

"Tiger Blade!" The target in question unleashed her version of Guy's classic move, but hers went much higher. She dodged over, the arrow failing to hit anything at all, and kicked at Luke's face in her wild leap. A final downward slash gouged into his shoulder as she landed gracefully.

Luke yelled in pain, and Asch rolled his eyes, changing his plan to assault Cantabile when she lagged after her arte. He caught Luke with one hand as he began to topple, healing him in the same step. Luke thanked him mentally.

Asch didn't heal it completely; that was all he had time for and it would do for now. He hurried to where Cantabile had dashed off to take out the other Seventh Fonist. She was all ready inflicting atrocities upon the defenseless Natalia, who could do nothing at such close range.

"Leave her alone!"

Cantabile turned to see Asch, his sword held forward, ready to impale her. She thought back to the night she had spoken to Jade at the bar; what had happened then was the exact opposite. That man ran himself through on her sword and she'd been blamed.

Oh, sweet, _perfect_ revenge.

Asch was right on target. He could taste the scheming bastard's innards on his blade all ready. She may have miraculously survived Indignation, as he'd seen through Luke, but _no one_ could survive four feet of cold steel clear through the chest.

And he hit flesh with a chilling thud, and only when he looked up did he meet the eyes of his victim.

"Asch..." she grasped his hands that were still so tightly glued to the hilt of his sword.

It took him exactly four sickeningly _long_ seconds to register what happened. Luke could only stare helplessly at the scene unfolding before him. The image was tattooed into his mind, and he would never forget that moment.

Asch grinned. How ironic. He released his sword long enough to touch her hair gently, to stroke her face.

"I love you," he whispered, almost too quiet to be audible. He wrapped his arms around her one final time, her blood adding to the vast amount that was all ready streaking his uniform.

And he felt no sadness. He set her body ceremoniously to the ground. He stood and turned to the only other two who were still able to fight. He felt no sadness. Only rage.

"Asch," Luke started, but he was stopped by his gaze. Luke couldn't read his dire expression, and he could find no strength to form another word.

No one could survive.


	14. Epilogue

It was a nice night.

The redheaded boy looked out over the ocean loftily. The wild selenia flowers in bloom all around him released their petals, each one sparkling in the moonlight.

He was in a rare good mood, enjoying the sea breeze and the snow of flora, and he took a deep, relaxed breath. He was so happy now, but he didn't know why.

"You still out here?" Another boy approached from behind, much older but similar in build and appearance. "You know we should go back home now."

The younger boy stood from his favorite place and smiled back at the other. He looked only about ten, and the other was at least twice his age.

"Okay," he nodded and walked to him, still in high good spirits.

"You seem to be in a good mood today."

"I was just thinking about her," he said simply.

"Oh?" the taller youth laughed, inferring the subject of his topic. "You've gotten over it really well. I'm surprised."

"Yeah, I've been thinking a lot lately," the boy bent to pick one of the silver blooms. "I have new insight on life now."

"Heh. Nice choice of words."

"She was right," he sighed happily, plucking the petals and letting them float away. "Fomicry can do wonderful things."

The final petal fluttered off on the night breeze, its sheen reflecting the light of the thousands of others that were on the same journey.


End file.
